Europe 1 with AFP // Photo credit: MUSTAFA YALCIN / ANADOLU / ANADOLU VIA AFP 7:50 a.m., February 24, 2024, modified at 7:53 a.m., February 24, 2024
This weekend marks two years since the war in Ukraine.
While the fighting continues on the front, the Europeans have reiterated their determination to support kyiv until its victory, facing Moscow which does not intend to back down.
If the United Kingdom announces a new envelope for Ukraine, Emmanuel Macron assures that France's support "will not weaken".
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French President Emmanuel Macron warned his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Saturday that France's support for Ukraine will not "weaken" and that we should "not count on" a "weariness of Europeans".
“Two years of war. Hit and bruised, but still standing. Ukraine is fighting for itself, for its ideals, for our Europe. Our commitment to it will not weaken,” Mr. Macron wrote in a posted message by the Élysée on the social network X on the occasion of the second anniversary of the Russian invasion.
“President Putin's Russia must not count on any weariness among Europeans,” the French presidency also warns in a press release on X. “The outcome of this war will be decisive for European interests, values and security. France is and will remain alongside Ukraine and the Ukrainian people,” added the Elysée press release.
The main information:
France’s support for kyiv “will not weaken”, says Emmanuel Macron
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hailed “the extraordinary resistance of the Ukrainian people”
London announces 245 million pounds to help Ukraine stock up on munitions
Russian Defense Minister visits his troops in Ukraine
Von der Leyen hails Ukrainian “resistance” in kyiv for 2 years of war
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen praised the "extraordinary resistance of the Ukrainian people" on Saturday upon her arrival in Kiev, two years to the day after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine .
"In kyiv to mark the anniversary of the second year of Russia's war against Ukraine. And to celebrate the extraordinary resistance of the Ukrainian people," von der Leyen said on social media.
“More than ever, we firmly support Ukraine. Financially, economically, militarily, morally. Until the country is finally free.”
London announces 245 million pounds to help Ukraine stock up on munitions
The United Kingdom announced on Saturday an envelope of 245 million pounds sterling (287 million euros) to help Ukraine replenish its munitions, two years after the start of the Russian invasion.
This aid aims to “reinvigorate supply chains in order to produce the artillery ammunition which Ukraine urgently needs to increase its reserves”, indicates in a press release the British Ministry of Defense.
The Ukrainian military "repulsed the Russian invader to reclaim half of the territory that Putin stole, while causing significant damage to Russian capabilities, with around 30% of Russia's Black Sea fleet destroyed or damaged, and thousands of tanks and armored vehicles reduced to wreckage,” declared British Defense Minister Grant Shapps.
“Together we will make Putin fail, for a victory for democracy, the rules-based international order and the Ukrainian people,” he added.
Russian Defense Minister visits his troops in Ukraine
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited his troops in Ukraine, the Russian army announced on Saturday, the second anniversary of the Moscow offensive.
“Today, in terms of the balance of forces, the advantage is on our side,” the minister told Russian soldiers from a command center.
The army press release specifies that the minister had been informed that Russian forces had gone on the offensive after seizing the town of Avdiivka.