French President Emmanuel Macron has called on Western countries to step up support for Ukraine, saying Russia’s actions in recent weeks indicate it could attack NATO countries in the coming years. he warned.
President Macron, speaking at the beginning of a hastily convened meeting of 20 mainly European leaders in Paris with the aim of accelerating arms supplies and financial aid to Ukraine, said: “Russia will not enter into this war.” We should not and cannot win,” he said, adding that Europe’s own security was at risk. stake.
“We are in the process of ensuring collective safety today and tomorrow,” he said.
Attendees at Monday’s summit included German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who is expected to become the next NATO Secretary-General.
President Macron pointed to the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny as a sign of Russia’s hardening position.
“Together we have already saved millions of lives,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a short video address. “We must ensure that we cannot expand our invasions to other countries,” he said.
At a press conference in Kiev, President Zelenskiy addressed one of the central issues facing the Paris talks: the failure of Western countries to fulfill their promises to supply the necessary amount of ammunition. “Of the one million shells that the European Union promised us, only 30%, not 50%, were delivered,” he said.
The EU last year pledged to send one million shells to Ukraine by the end of March 2024, but later said it would only be able to deliver just over 50% of that amount. Zelenskiy hinted that the EU was not even meeting its reduced targets. Ukraine blames a lack of artillery ammunition for its inability to hold its position, let alone advance, ruling out the possibility of most European powers eliminating it in 2024.
Before the meeting, populist Slovak Prime Minister Roberto Fico said several EU and NATO member states were considering sending troops to Ukraine on a bilateral basis, a claim that raised concerns about escalation. The results appeared to be intended to produce, and the results were particularly those of Macron. He denied it in his opening remarks at the press conference.
But he made it unusually clear that there is a consensus that Russia will attempt to attack other countries within the next few years.
Ukraine claims a lack of ammunition is hampering its fighting ability, and on Monday Ukrainian troops withdrew from a village near Avdiivka that was captured by Russian forces this month.
President Macron did not attend the Munich Security Conference, a large gathering of Western politicians and military officials, eight days ago, nor did he attend a video call from Kiev with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy, which holds the G7 presidency. Did not participate.
Mr Macron’s aides said they felt the Munich meeting created an overly dark tone about whether Ukraine could defeat Mr Putin or force him to negotiate.
Mr Macron is a strong supporter of greater European autonomy, saying that if Donald Trump is elected US president and withdraws from NATO or ends military aid to Ukraine, European countries, including the UK, He wants countries to think more strategically about how they support Ukraine.
Atlanticist leaders such as Mr. Meloni, Mr. Scholz and Mr. Cameron recognize that they must prove to Republican voters that Europe is strong on the Ukraine issue, but that the U.S. It does not want to make plans based on abandoning Europe, and even if President Trump were to take office, his power would allow the transatlantic alliance to survive.
French officials insist there is no scenario in which Putin wins and the West does not lose.
Part of the problem is that there is no single body responsible for coordinating Ukraine’s arms requirements, and the meeting in Ramstein, Germany, attended by Ukrainian supporters, is not run by a single secretariat. be.
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Officials have acknowledged the need to qualitatively increase the speed with which military ammunition reaches Ukraine, identifying factories that can increase production in the short term, and improving European defense industry in the medium term. We want to send a clear message to We guarantee that your orders will be fulfilled for the foreseeable future.
The European Union has missed its goal of sending one million shells to Ukraine by March, and countries are making various plans to buy ammunition.
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kalas has proposed issuing a €100bn (£86bn) Eurobond to boost Europe’s defense industry, an idea she has been promoting for nearly a year. and has the support of President Macron.
Germany and the Netherlands oppose mutual debt. The Czech Republic is promoting the purchase of ammunition from third countries.
One official said that for Kiev to win, around 10% of each country’s defense budget would need to go to Ukraine, but that number would rise to nearly 20% without further U.S. military aid.
“We want to send a clear message to President Putin that we will not win in Ukraine,” one of President Macron’s advisers said at a press conference. “Our goal is to shatter this idea that he’s trying to make us believe that we’re going to somehow win.”
French officials said no new military orders were expected at the Paris meeting. France, Germany and Italy recently signed bilateral arms assistance to Ukraine.
According to the Keil Institute for the World Economy, a research organization specializing in estimating Western contributions to the Ukraine war, aid pledges by EU countries and institutions amount to around $150bn (£118bn), about 2% of the amount pledged by the US. It is said to more than double. .
Some officials advising the Ukrainian government say fundamental disagreements remain between the U.S. and Europe over whether Ukraine should ultimately be obliged to negotiate with Russia, and that the U.S. Some said they were still confident a deal could be reached.
