Emmanuel Macron, France's president, left, greets Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine's president, ahead of a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, on May 14, 2023. (Benjamin Girette/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
French President Emmanuel Macron on Jan. 16 said he will sign a bilateral military agreement next month while in Kyiv, Politico reported.
Paris will "continue to help Ukraine to hold the front line and protect its skies," he said.
His visit comes at a time when political turbulence in the U.S. has delayed major assistance packages for Ukraine.
Some 40 SCALP long-range missiles and other ordinance are expected to be delivered.
Last week British PM Rishi Sunak pledged nearly $3 billion and signed a bilateral security framework with Kyiv.
Macron also urged EU leaders to reach a consensus to finalize 50 billion euro of desperately needed aid.
Lance Luo (Li P. Luo) is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. Previously, he worked at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Hromadske Television in Kyiv. He also spent three years in finance and strategy consulting. Mr. Luo graduated from the University of Southern California and serves as an arbitrator at FINRA.
According to the data provided by the prosecutors, 202,997 criminal cases have been opened into unauthorized abandonment of military units, also known as absence without leave, from 2022 to July 2025. A total of 15, 564 people have been officially charged with the crime.
Ukrainian men aged 18 to 60 have been prohibited from leaving the country since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, with some exceptions. Men aged 25 to 60 can be conscripted into the armed forces.
Victor Tregubov, a spokesperson for Ukraine's Dnipro group of forces, told the Kyiv Independent that claims about the capture of Zaporizke appeared already on Aug. 25 and were not confirmed by Ukraine at the time.
Initial findings suggest the drone may have been intended to strike targets within Russian territory. The Estonian police say Russian electronic warfare, including GPS jamming, could have diverted the aircraft off course, causing it to stray into Estonian airspace.
"The attack damaged the enterprise's buildings and equipment, causing a power outage," the DTEK energy company said. "At that time, 146 miners were underground; their ascent to the surface is ongoing."
Thirty-three-year-old National Guard soldier Vladyslav survived after Russian forces slit his throat and threw him into a pit, believing he was dead, Suspilne reported on Aug. 25. He managed to climb out and spent five days crawling back to Ukrainian-controlled territory.
The Ramstein summit will take place as Washington is trying to organize peace talks between Ukrainian and Russian presidents in its effort to end Moscow's full-scale war, while Kyiv awaits a proposed framework for security guarantees from its partners.
State-owned and private processors, including energy giant Reliance Industries, plan to trim daily purchases to 1.4-1.6 million barrels from the current 1.8 million barrels, Bloomberg reported.
The 19th sanctions package should instead include further measures against Moscow's "shadow fleet" and companies helping Russia circumvent existing sanctions, Politico reported.
The deals were reportedly offered as incentives to push the Kremlin toward a peace agreement and to provide Washington with justification for easing certain sanctions on Russia.
The operation "disabled logistical facilities that support the operations and combat supply of Russian army units," the Special Operations Forces said in a statement.
The attacks have disrupted Russia’s ability to process and export oil and created gasoline shortages in some Russian regions, as well as in occupied Crimea.
Martin Fornusek
