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After six hours on negotiations with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron visited Kyiv. Here is the brief of Macron’s joint press-conference with Ukraine’s President Zelensky.
The key messages of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky:
- For the first time in 24 years, the leader of France visited Ukraine.
- France has allocated 1.2 billion euros of macro-financial assistance to Ukraine.
- France is involved in the restoration of Ukraine’s infrastructure in Donbas.
- France will take part in the reconstruction of drinking water sources in Mariupol and the Luhansk region.
- France will supply 130 locomotives to Alstom for 900 million euros and 370 units of fire and rescue equipment for 300 million euros.
- The countries launch project on building patrol boats for the State Border Service in Mykolaiv.
- Ukroboronprom (Ukraine’s state defense concern) and Thales (French high technology leader) have signed a cooperation agreement.
- Kyiv and Paris sign an agreement regarding the reforms of Ukraine’s military-industrial complex.
Key messages from French President Emmanuel Macron
- France supports Ukraine on its path to reforms and democracy.
- The Minsk agreements are the only option for achieving peace in Ukraine.
- Ukraine does not need to resort to provocations that lead to destabilization.
- France and Germany will continue to play the role of a mediator to resolve the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
- The President of France announced Putin’s readiness to implement the Minsk agreements.
- February 10, Berlin will host a meeting of political advisers to the leaders of the Normandy format, which would resume negotiations at the Normandy Four leaders’ level.
- The main goal of Paris is to restore order in the issue of security and defense of Europe.
Read also: Blinken: Ukraine implementing Minsk deal, Russia failing to do its part
February 7, French President Emmanuel Macron sat down with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow to discuss the security issues and tensions at the Ukraine-Russia border. UA has gathered his key messages on these issues.
On the eve of his visit to the Russian Federation, Macron outlined his key goal in his latest interview with Le Journal du dimanche: “The intensity of the dialogue that we had with Russia and this visit to Moscow are aimed at preventing this (Russia’s full-fledged intervention into Ukraine’s territory, – ed.) from happening,” Macron assured.
Conceivably, Macron is trying to freeze the situation for several months, at least until the spring, as in April 2022, three European countries – Hungary, Slovenia, and France – would hold their elections.
