Macron promises Zelenskyy to ramp up pressure on Russia

“I reiterated France’s support: we will continue to strengthen our assistance to Ukraine and increase pressure on Russia, which must finally agree to a ceasefire that paves the way for talks leading to a solid and lasting peace, with full European involvement,” he said.

According to the French leader, unlike Russia, Ukraine remains a vibrant democracy despite the war. Moreover, the country is determined to continue moving along the European path.

“In this context, we reaffirmed the importance of the fight against corruption, led by independent and fully effective institutions. We also discussed strengthening cooperation between our two countries. We are preparing for the future,” Macron concluded.

President Zelenskyy also reported earlier in the day that he had a productive and focused conversation with Macron. The two leaders discussed Ukraine’s key defense needs, with a particular emphasis on strengthening air defense. They also talked about the delivery of additional missiles for the SAMP/T and Crotale systems.

Zelenskyy noted that they had had a detailed discussion on their path to European integration and had agreed to work on finding solutions that would allow them to open the first negotiation cluster soon. He emphasized that it was important for Ukraine and Moldova to continue moving forward in sync. He also mentioned that they had discussed the operation of Ukraine’s fully functional anti-corruption infrastructure.

Zelenskyy’s conversation with Ursula von der Leyen

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a law launching a large-scale reform of the Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA).

This issue was discussed not only with French President Emmanuel Macron but also with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Von der Leyen praised Ukraine’s progress in implementing reforms, noting that these efforts will help facilitate further financial support through upcoming tranches.