Zelensky addresses Macron’s Ukraine summit, calls to 'deprive Russia of advantages'
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President Volodymyr Zelensky participated in a summit on Ukraine convened by French President Emmanuel Macron on Feb. 26 in Paris, joining other EU leaders remotely, he said in his evening address.
According to Zelensky, the main topic of the meeting was "everything that strengthens us," including Ukraine's ability to produce weapons, military assistance, and continuity of support.
The summit took place amid uncertainty over stalled U.S. aid to Ukraine and Russia's attempts to advance in several sectors in the east and south of the country following the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast.
Speaking to the leaders, Zelensky noted that this year Ukraine and its allies should work jointly to ensure that “Russia loses its deadly advantages, as it has already lost its advantages on land and at sea,” the President’s Office wrote.
“We have to prove that we can deprive Russia of its air supremacy, its financing of aggression, and its political power,” Zelensky said.
The president added that 2024 should be the year when the West confiscates Russian assets and tightens sanctions against Moscow.
Western countries and other partners immobilized around $300 billion of the Russian Central Bank's assets at the start of the full-scale invasion. According to the World Bank, the estimated cost of Ukraine's post-war recovery and reconstruction has risen to $486 billion.
