“Putin must understand that we are not tired,” assures the Elysée by organizing a meeting of Western supporters in kyiv

Around twenty heads of state and government, mostly European, are meeting on Monday in Paris to reaffirm their unity and support for Ukraine, in a very difficult situation after more than two years of a grueling war against Moscow.

Volodymyr Zelensky repeats it: victory against Russia “up to you“, addressing his Western allies from whom he expects arms and ammunition. During a press conference in Kiev on Sunday February 25, the Ukrainian president also indicated that 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in two years of war since the Russian invasion and that Russia had managed to get its hands on the plans for the Ukrainian counter-offensive in the summer of 2023, before it even began.

So many subjects at the heart of a high-level conference in Paris, Monday February 26: around twenty heads of state and government, mostly European, are expected in Paris to reaffirm their unity and support for Ukraine. The vast majority of European leaders, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Polish President Andrzej Duda, American and Canadian representatives, as well as the head of British diplomacy David Cameron and the Prime Ministers of 15 EU countries will be present at this meeting at the Elysée, which will be opened with a videoconference intervention by the Ukrainian president.

Do “more and better”

Behind the scenes, particularly at the Elysée, we make no secret of the fact that the context is difficult. The Russian army, contrary to forecasts, not only does not retreat, but advances on the front, taking advantage of Ukraine’s lack of ammunition and its numerical superiority in soldiers. Worse: doubt and concern have crept into Western public opinion, not to mention the hypothesis of a change of course at the White House at the end of the year.

To ward off this bad situation, Emmanuel Macron therefore wants to remobilize his partners, mainly European, with a message of unity of the Western camp and action: “Putin must understand that we are not tired“, we insist at the presidency.

The conference is intended to be an exercise in remobilization, almost a call to order, to counter a form of defeatism that could develop in Europe. If further aid announcements are not planned, participants should review “the means to do more and better decisively” to help Ukraine hold on.