President Macron aims to revitalize European aid – DW – 2024/02/26

French President Emmanuel Macron will host a meeting in Paris where European leaders will discuss support for Ukraine.

The rally was held amid concerns that aid from the United States could be cut off.

Macron is also likely to use the conference to advocate for greater European autonomy in security matters, something he has advocated since before Russia began its invasion of Ukraine two years ago. Ta.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Polish President Andrzej Duda are among around 20 European heads of state and government expected to take part in the conference. A video address from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will open the conference.

The United States and Canada will also be represented.

The French president’s office said the meeting would “consider all means to effectively support Ukraine” as Kyiv’s military begins to run out of arms and ammunition.

This predicament has worsened as the US Republican Party continues to block approval of a major new aid package for Ukraine.

Some believe that Donald Trump may return to the White House in an election later this year, raising concerns that Washington’s support for Ukraine may weaken in the long term.
The Paris meeting is scheduled to start at 1600 GMT/UTC, with President Macron expected to hold a press conference a few hours later.

Ukrainian authorities said Russian troops shot dead seven Ukrainian prisoners on Saturday near the Russian-occupied city of Bakhmut.

In a post on Telegram on Sunday night, Dmytro Rubinez, Ukraine’s Commissioner for Human Rights, referred to a video recording showing Ukrainian soldiers “raising their hands” as they surrendered.

“The Russians were supposed to take them prisoner, but instead they shot them mercilessly,” he said.

The report could not initially be independently verified.

Hungarian lawmakers are scheduled to ratify Sweden’s NATO membership on Monday in a long-delayed vote.

Hungary is the only country among NATO’s 31 members that has not yet approved Sweden’s membership in the military alliance, despite Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s vow not to become the last member. Full unanimity of all member states is required for new states to join.

The reasons for the delay are various and vague. Recently, the right-wing Hungarian government, which maintains friendly relations with Russia, said it felt “insulted” by Sweden’s criticism of Hungary’s rule of law.

Sweden applied to join NATO in May 2022, along with Finland, but has struggled to gain ratification from Turkey and Hungary, unlike its neighbors who approved membership in April last year.

The Turkish government dropped its opposition in January, leaving Budapest to hold out on its own.

On Friday, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson finally announced an agreement for Hungary to purchase four new Swedish-made JAS 39 Gripen fighter jets.

tj/rc (AFP, AP, DPA, Reuters)