PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron will host Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday in Paris for talks on the war-battered nation’s needs, the Elysee palace announced.
“As Russian strikes intensify on the front line and against energy infrastructure, the two presidents will discuss the situation on the ground,” the presidential palace said Tuesday.
The meeting between the two leaders is set to take place after D-Day commemorations.
The Ukrainian president, who will be welcomed by France’s Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu with military honors on Friday morning, will visit a site of the Franco-German arms group KNDS near Paris.
The defense group makes artillery guns being used in Ukraine.
Zelensky will also deliver a speech in France’s National Assembly and meet with the speaker of the lower house Yael Braun-Pivet, who visited Ukraine in March.
News of his speech met with criticism from the opposition, with the leader of right-wing Republicans in parliament, Olivier Marleix, saying it was “inappropriate” to invite Zelensky to speak just days before the upcoming European elections.
Braun-Pivet said the date of his visit was “on the occasion of the 80th anniversary” of the D-Day landings.
France hosted a conference in February on providing support for Ukraine, after which Macron announced measures to provide more weapons to Kyiv and did not rule out sending soldiers to Ukraine — sparking controversy among his allies.
Earlier Friday, Moscow’s top diplomat warned that French military instructors training soldiers in Ukraine would be a “legitimate target” for Russian strikes, amid reports France could send trainers to the country.
Paris does not officially have military personnel assisting or training Ukrainian forces in Ukraine at the moment, but Kyiv said last week it was “in talks” with France on the issue.