German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is optimistic on the allocation of EUR50 billion for Ukraine, Reuters reports.
“We have other ways to help Ukraine, but we have not given up the goal of finding a solution here,” Scholz said.
German Chancellor and French President Emmanuel Macron hope that Ukraine will receive help from the EU.
As reported, an extraordinary meeting of the European Council, which is to decide on the revision of the EU budget, as well as on the continuation of EUR50bn funding for Ukraine until 2027, will be held at the end of January-February, but there is no specific date yet. At the same time, the European Commission intends to work on a contingency plan that will make it possible to do so.
France will increase its total support to $2 billion, President Emmanuel Macron has said.
At the High-Level International Donor’s Conference for Ukraine in Warsaw on Thursday, Macron announced that France will increase its total support to $2 billion to meet the needs voiced by the President of Ukraine. France will continue to act in concert within the EU, with its European partners, as well as within the G7 and international financial institutions to collectively meet the needs of the Ukrainian state in the face of the catastrophe of this war.
According to the President, France has allocated a total of $1.7 billion for Ukraine in 2022.
“The humanitarian needs of the population and the economic situation of the country call for a new effort by the international community which meets the needs linked to the destruction of civilian infrastructure,” Macron said.
On Tuesday, February 8, French President Emmanuel Macron will travel to Ukraine, the Elysee Palace reported.
According to the agenda posted on the website of the Elysee Palace, on February 8, the President of France will stay in Ukraine.
It is also indicated that on Monday, February 7, Macron will visit the Russian Federation.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky offered French President Emmanuel Macron to sign a declaration of support for Ukraine’s accession to the European Union.
“We have made a declaration that we conclude with partner countries, member states of the European Union, in which this or that country signs a declaration with us, indicating its support of Ukraine in striving to be a member of the European Union. Frankly speaking, several countries have already signed this declaration. There are countries that are now reviewing this declaration. I told the details of this declaration. I suggested that France also support Ukraine. I believe that President Macron will get acquainted with this declaration and give his answer,” Zelensky said at a briefing on the results talks with French President Macron in Paris on Friday.
Zelensky also said the Declaration on the European Perspective of Ukraine is an initiative of our state, which “does not want to wait until everything is done for us.”
“We are very proactive in Ukraine. We do not wait for everything to be done for us. We ourselves are taking concrete steps,” Zelensky said.
As reported, on March 18, a meeting of the presidents of Ukraine and Lithuania took place, during which they signed a Declaration on the European perspective of Ukraine.
EMMANUEL MACRON, EUROPEAN UNION, FRANCE, PRESIDENT, PRESIDENT ZELENSKY
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky will visit France on Friday, April 16, where he is to meet with President Emmanuel Macron, Le Figaro reported. It is noted that the visit is associated with an increase in tension in Ukraine due to the military buildup of the Russian Federation on its borders. The presidents of the two countries will meet during a working lunch at the Elysee Palace.
As reported, Zelensky may meet with French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss escalation in Donbas and reforms in Ukraine.
“The main purpose of the visit is to meet with Macron tête-à-tête,” French Ambassador to Ukraine Etienne de Poncins said in an interview with KyivPost.
During the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to Ukraine, several major contracts may be signed, in particular, an important contract with Alstom for the supply of electric locomotives, Ukrainian Ambassador to France Vadym Omelchenko has said.
“President Macron’s visit to Ukraine is, definitely, planned. We are working on this every day, first of all, on the substantial filling of the agenda of this visit,” Omelchenko said at the online conference titled “Seven years after the Maidan” on Monday. The ambassador believes several major contracts will be signed during the visit of the French President to Ukraine.
“This is, first of all, the major contract with Alstom and the Ukrainian government for the supply of electric locomotives, which also provides for local content in Ukraine. We also hope that we will have time to learn the issue of expanding cooperation with Alstom on the construction of high-speed railway tracks between Kyiv and Lviv, Kyiv and Odesa,” Omelchenko said.
It is also planned to sign contracts for the construction of drinking water stations.
“Such a station has already been constructed in Mariupol, it is tens of millions of euros, and we hope that such construction will also start in Kyiv and Luhansk,” the diplomat said.
Earlier, Head of Ukrzaliznytsia Volodymyr Zhmak said Ukrzaliznytsia has very outdated tracks and needs to be updated strategically. At this stage, according to him, Ukrzaliznytsya is interested in 50 two-system electric locomotives capable of transporting from 5,500 to 6,000 tonnes of cargo.
