Around 20 European leaders meet in Paris, this Monday (26), to send Russian President Vladimir Putin a message of European determination towards Ukraine and counter the Kremlin's narrative that Russia is destined to win the war that has entered its third year.
French President Emmanuel Macron has invited his European counterparts to the Elysee Palace for a working meeting announced at short notice due to what his advisers say is an escalation in Russian aggression in recent weeks.
“We want to send Putin a very clear message that he will not win in Ukraine,” a presidential adviser told journalists at a briefing.
“Our goal is to put an end to this idea that he wants us to believe that he would somehow be winning,” he added.
After initial successes in pushing back the Russian army, Ukraine suffered setbacks on the battlefield, with its generals complaining of a shortage of weapons and soldiers.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the British Foreign Minister, David Cameron Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, as well as leaders from Scandinavian and Baltic countries, are among those confirmed at the event.
The United States is represented by the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Jim O'Brien, and Canada, by the Minister of Defense, Bill Blair.
Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskiy will address the meeting via teleconference.
French officials said the security conference in Munich earlier this month, which coincided with the death of Putin's most prominent domestic opponent, Alexei Navalny, was all about “doom and gloom”, and that Macron, who should be in Kiev in March, I was interested in dispelling that.
“We are not pessimistic or gloomy,” said the French advisor. “We want Russia to understand this. Russia will have to rely on all of us collectively to end this war and restore Ukraine’s rights.”
French officials said Russia demonstrated aggressiveness renewed in recent weeks, including on Putin's flight in a nuclear-capable bomber, in what they see as an attempt to intimidate Europeans at a time when US support is thrown into doubt by the presidential elections.
The advisor said that the working meeting will not be an occasion to announce new arms deliveries to Ukraine, but rather to discuss ways to be more efficient on the ground, as well as to increase coordination between allies and Ukraine.
One One area where progress could be made is the issue of purchasing hundreds of thousands of ammunition to third countries, something that France has been cautious about, as it intends to give priority to the development of its own European industry.
“We must be able to deliver more ammunition. The principle is that ammunition will be purchased wherever they are available”, said the advisor. “There is no dogmatic (French) position.”
Ammunition supply has become a critical issue for Kiev.
The European Union, however, is falling short of its goal of sending Ukraine one million artillery shells by March, and Czech President Petr Pavel is promoting an initiative to acquire ammunition from other countries to obtain urgent aid for the armed forces of Ukraine. Ukraine.
Source: CNN Brasil
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