International support meeting in kyiv.

Around twenty heads of state and government, mainly European, met on Monday February 26 in Paris to reaffirm their support for Ukraine, very weakened by Russian troops and awaiting the Western weapons necessary for its survival.

Invited by President Emmanuel Macron, the vast majority of European leaders, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Polish Head of State Andrzej Duda, as well as around fifteen Prime Ministers from EU countries, will meet at the end afternoon at the Élysée Palace.

Among the guests are also American and Canadian representatives, as well as the head of British diplomacy David Cameron.

The meeting aims, according to the French presidency, to "remobilize and examine all means of supporting Ukraine effectively", at a time when kyiv, lacking arms and ammunition, finds itself in a very difficult situation facing Russia .

Do “more and better”

Ukraine's victory or defeat "depends on you", President Volodymyr Zelensky told his allies on Sunday, who will open the conference with a videoconference address.

The Ukrainians have been accumulating setbacks in the east for several weeks, notably with the loss more than a week ago of the fortress town of Avdiïvka, and, this Monday, their withdrawal from the village of Lastochkyné, near Avdiïvka.

While Russia's war against Ukraine has entered its third year and American aid, crucial for Kiev, is blocked in Congress by Donald Trump's Republicans, Europeans want to do "more and better", according to the Élysée.

Read alsoTwo years after the Russian invasion, the Ukrainian army reviews its strategy

“President Putin's Russia must not count on any weariness among Europeans,” assured Emmanuel Macron on X on Saturday, the two-year anniversary of the Russian invasion.

The French head of state also called a few days ago for a "collective surge" in the face of a Russia considered increasingly aggressive in Europe, through cyber and information attacks.

“Our long-term support must continue”

"It's about contradicting the impression that things are falling apart, reaffirming that we are not tired and that we are determined to stop Russian aggression. We want to send a clear message to Putin that he will not win in Ukraine", insists the French presidency.

At the heart of the discussions, the nagging question of arms supplies, half of which, according to kyiv, are delivered late.

“The promised weapons must arrive at the front. Our long-term support must continue,” Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas declared on X on her arrival in Paris, recalling that Estonia's military aid was equal to 0 .25% of its GDP over the next four years.

I'm in Paris at the invitation of @EmmanuelMacron to discuss how to help Ukraine win this war.



Weapons promised must reach the front.

Our long-term support must continue.

Estonia's military aid to Ukraine will be 0.25% of our GDP over the next 4 years.



📎https://t.co/K8qmHVog0p pic.twitter.com/AAHqtjNGBB

— Kaja Kallas (@kajakallas) February 26, 2024

"Everyone is doing everything they can in terms of arms deliveries. We must all be able to do better together, each according to their abilities", underlines the French presidency, while certain Europeans, notably the French and the Germans, accuse themselves more or less openly of not doing enough.

Security agreements

Several countries, including France, Germany and Italy, have signed bilateral security agreements with Kiev in recent weeks but the EU, which has delivered 28 billion euros in aid since the start of the war military, struggles to keep its commitments, particularly in terms of shells.

“Europeans have the means to do significant things,” noted former American diplomat Debra Cagan on Friday during a conference at the American think tank The Atlantic Council.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on February 24, 2024 in kyiv.

© Genya Savilov, AFP

But "if Ukraine had already had the F16 fighter jets, if it had Germany's Taurus (missiles), we would see an entirely different conflict today," she added.

“Indecision causes more death and destruction,” she warned.

American aid of $60 billion has also been blocked in Congress for months.

Ukraine is convinced that the United States will not "abandon" it in the face of Russia and will end up voting for this package, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said on Sunday.

With AFP

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