US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron will meet with their Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in separate meetings in the French capital, Paris, today, Friday, and it is expected that military support for Kiev will be at the top of the agenda.
This is the first time that a direct conversation has taken place between the US President and the Ukrainian since last December, when the approval of US aid to Ukraine was held up by opposition from the Republican Party in Congress.
The meeting is expected to witness the United States providing an aid package with weapons worth up to $225 million. American sources said that the package includes a group of weapons, the most important of which are artillery shells and air defense missiles.
The package comes in light of Kiev's efforts to defend the city of Kharkiv after an attack launched by Moscow on May 10, during which it took control of some villages in the region.
The two presidents will meet for the second time next week on the sidelines of the G7 conference scheduled to be held in Italy, which will discuss the use of Russian assets that were frozen after the war on Ukraine in an effort to provide $50 billion to Kiev.
Biden changed his position last week and allowed Ukraine to use the American weapons he provided to it to strike military targets inside Russia that support the attack on Kharkiv. Deputy National Security Advisor John Feiner said in Washington yesterday, Thursday, that the United States is trying to meet Ukraine’s weapons needs.
Mirage planes to Kiev
In this context, Emmanuel Macron announced, during his interview with French television yesterday, Thursday, that Paris will transport “Mirage 2000” fighter planes to Kiev, and said that he will have a meeting today, Friday, with the Ukrainian president at the Elysee Palace in Paris.
Macron added: “Tomorrow we will launch a new cooperation and announce the transfer of Mirage 2000 fighter planes to Ukraine.”
While none of the French institutions have yet specified how many planes Ukraine will receive, the French president said the delivery process "usually takes between five and six months. So by the end of the year there will be pilots. The pilots will be trained in France."
In addition to strengthening the Ukrainian Air Force, Macron announced that France will equip and train an entire brigade of 4,500 Ukrainian soldiers.
The Ukrainian president is participating in the celebrations of the eightieth anniversary of the Normandy landings, which were conducted by the Allied forces against Germany during World War II, and a number of Western heads of state are participating in the events, led by US President Joe Biden.
On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine, and to end it, it stipulated that Kiev “abandon” plans to join military entities, which prompted capitals, led by Washington, to impose severe economic sanctions on Moscow.
Significant military aid packages and strategic cooperation were promised.
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