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.
Russia's Ryazan oil refinery halved its production and the Novokuibyshevsk refinery halted it completely on Aug. 2 after Ukrainian drone attacks, Reuters reported, citing undisclosed sources.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov noted that U.S. submarines "are always on alert," claiming that Russia is not interested in escalating tension between the two nations.
"I am sincerely grateful to the Netherlands for their substantial contribution to strengthening Ukraine's air shield," President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote, saying this is "the first such step" among NATO countries.
The attacks struck a residential building and a moped, killing three civilians in the Chuhuiv district. Local prosecutors are investigating the attack as a war crime.
A decrease in assault operations is "related to the regrouping of the relevant Russian units in order to eventually resume more active assaults on the island zone of the right bank of Kherson Oblast," military spokesperson Serhii Bratchuk told the Kyiv Independent.
Martin Fornusek
