Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he discussed the implementation of his country’s ‘ten-step peace formula’ with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.
The two mean spoke on Sunday ahead of the Bilateral Conference for the Resilience and Reconstruction of Ukraine, to be held in Paris on Tuesday.
In a tweet, Macron said the leaders discussed the preparation of the two-part conference: “firstly, the international aid conference on getting Ukraine through the winter; and secondly, the conference with French firms that will help rebuild the country.”
On Twitter, Zelenskyy said both countries “synchronised positions on the eve of the G7 online summit”. They also “discussed the implementation of our ten-step peace formula, cooperation on defence and energy stability of Ukraine.”
The call follows several days of diplomatic tensions, after Macron, in a televised interview on 3 December, urged Western countries to think about “security guarantees” to be provided to Russia in the context of peace negotiations.
“One of the essential points is the fear that NATO will come to [Russia’s] doorstep, and that the deployment of weapons could threaten Russia,” he said at the time. A statement that was met with heavy criticism from Ukrainian and Eastern European leaders. The Elysée had to step in and make clear these comments had been taken out of their context, according to AFP.
As such, the call was an opportunity for Macron to reiterate “France’s solidarity with Ukraine as the country continues to suffer targeted bombing against civilian infrastructure,” the Elysée press release reads.
The Conference on the Resilience and Reconstruction of Ukraine, first announced by French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne in early October, will aim to clarify “the needs of Ukraine to ensure its economic resilience in wartime and its reconstruction in the medium term”. French companies will be encouraged to grant economic support, according to the French Ministry of the Economy.
The conference will be co-chaired by Macron and Zelenskyy. Heads of state and ministers from 47 countries will attend, alongside United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, according to the Elysée.
(Theo Bourgery-Gonse | EURACTIV.fr)
Source: euractiv.com
