what are the military and diplomatic issues of Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to France and Germany?

The Ukrainian leader is in Paris and Berlin on Friday to sign bilateral security agreements. The opportunity for its allies to reaffirm their support for kyiv.

This is the third time since the start of the conflict that Volodymyr Zelensky has come to meet Emmanuel Macron in Paris. As the war in Ukraine enters its third year, and fierce fighting takes place in Avdiivka, the Ukrainian president begins a diplomatic visit to Berlin in the morning then to Paris in the afternoon, Friday February 16.

Franceinfo summarizes the issues of this visit and what the Ukrainian president can hope to obtain.

Sign bilateral security agreements

This is the main reason for the Ukrainian leader’s visit: to guarantee the lasting support of his allies for Ukraine. In Berlin, Friday morning, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Volodymyr Zelensky signed a security agreement to this effect, particularly on the military level. It concerns “security commitments and long-term support” of Ukraine, the German Chancellery announced earlier. This document is “a historic step”highlighted Olaf Scholz on X. “Germany will continue to support Ukraine against the Russian war of aggression for as long as necessary”he added.

A similar agreement must be signed with Emmanuel Macron in Paris at the end of the day. The objective is the establishment of“a new security architecture for Ukraine”wrote the Ukrainian president on Telegram.

These agreements will serve in particular to give substance to the commitments made at the NATO summit in Vilnius (Lithuania) in July 2023, during which the G7 countries committed to providing military support “on the long term” in kyiv. The precise content of the agreement between Paris and kyiv is not yet known, but the Elysée clarified on Thursday that it would cover the “long-term military support”as well as “economic support and civil assistance to strengthen Ukraine’s economic stability and resilience”.

The United Kingdom was the first country to conclude an agreement of this type, on January 12. There are commitments regarding “anti-tank weapons, missiles, hundreds of thousands of new artillery shells and the training of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers”, according to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, cited by RFI. The Elysée estimates that the agreement with France will be largely in the same vein, since all the G7 countries “are in the framework of the Vilnius declaration”although with “specificities” national.

Ask for even more help

According to the Elysée, Emmanuel Macron and Volodymyr Zelensky “will notably have the opportunity to discuss the situation on the front, Ukraine’s military, economic and humanitarian needs”. Beyond the implementation of the Vilnius commitments, the Ukrainian president wants to seize the opportunity to request an increase in French and European aid.

The Ukrainian army regularly denounces the lack of ammunition and weapons to face the Russians. “The Russian occupiers continue to increase their efforts and are outnumbering” Ukrainian forces, declared the new commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armies, Oleksandr Syrsky, on Wednesday. The European Union recently agreed on additional aid of 50 billion euros, but some long-standing commitments on arms deliveries have not been kept.

In this context, kyiv is pressing the EU to increase its deliveries of artillery shells and “sign long-term contracts with companies” of the Ukrainian defense sector. After these two trips, Volodymyr Zelensky will spend Saturday at the Security Conference in Munich (Germany), where he is due to give a speech and then hold several bilateral discussions, notably with the American vice-president, Kamala Harris.

Reaffirming unity between kyiv and its allies

The arrival of Volodymyr Zelensky in Paris “will be an opportunity for the two leaders to continue and deepen their dialogue of trust”, according to the Elysée. For Paris, one of the objectives is also to “continue to support Ukraine in its European trajectory”. In November, the Commission recommended opening negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova for possible EU membership.

This support is all the more necessary since, on the other side of the Atlantic, the threat of American disengagement still looms. The package of new aid for kyiv is also still at a standstill. The Republicans, encouraged by Donald Trump, announced Tuesday that they refused to examine a law to grant this new envelope, demanding in exchange a toughening of American migration policy at the border with Mexico.