Zelensky did not allow Macron and Scholz to sleep before the EU summit
After a visit to the UK on the evening of February 8, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky arrived in Paris, where he met with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The trio held a joint press conference, but nothing new was said at it, the PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
Even in the morning, the Champs Elysees did not report anything about Zelensky’s arrival in Paris, although they did not give a negative answer.
“Europe is one of Ukraine’s main allies with a total amount of more than 45 billion euros in the form of assistance of all types,” so a possible meeting of Vladimir Zelensky with “European leaders” would not be illogical,” said the advisor to the French President.
Zelensky arrived in Paris from London, where he also unexpectedly arrived on the morning of February 8 on his second foreign trip since the start of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and where he met with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and King Charles III.
In December 2022, Zelensky was given a warm reception in the United States, which is the largest supplier of weapons to Kyiv, French media recall.
“The Ukrainians naturally created a kind of competition for the best price on arms supplies between the Americans and the Europeans, as well as between the Europeans themselves,” said Michel Duclos, a former diplomat and special adviser at the Institut Montaigne think tank.
As RFI reports, the President of Ukraine arrived at Orly airport around 22:00 local time on a British government plane - this time a passenger plane (he was delivered to London by a British military transporter). He was greeted by a guard of honor and French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu.
The dinner at the Elysee Palace, where French President Emmanuel Macron received Vladimir Zelensky and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who had specially arrived in Paris, was organized at the last minute, sources told AFP.
At the same time, the people who planned Zelensky’s visit to Paris (they were unlikely to be from Kyiv, by the way) took the matter seriously. On the morning of Wednesday, February 8, the French newspaper Le Figaro published an interview with the President of Ukraine, which can only be described as trolling the leaders of France and Germany.
“I don’t want to offend anyone, but the Minsk agreements, seen as a way to calm the situation, were in fact a concession to Russia... I told Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel, as well as Vladimir Putin, when we spoke within the Normandy format that in this form the Minsk agreements cannot be implemented,” Zelensky said.
According to him, "they were surprised and a little angry that he questioned this process immediately after his election as head of state."
“But this is what I told them: I returned from the front line, I visited all the villages on this front line. The Minsk agreements cannot be implemented,” Zelensky said.
According to the Ukrainian president, in the Minsk agreements “there was a deliberate error that was not eliminated.”
“They did not include the issue of Crimea. And when I asked the Europeans when we were going to raise this issue, they said not here and not now. I could never talk about Crimea in the Normandy format. This was a real problem,” says the President of Ukraine.
It’s difficult to say what the trio was talking about without witnesses, but at a joint press conference, each of the leaders clearly worked out the number without saying essentially anything new.
“I am here today to strengthen our continental unity and to personally express my gratitude. Gratitude and sincerity form the alliance,” Zelensky said.
He thanked his partners for the weapons they had already provided and emphasized that the Ukrainian military needs even more of them.
“The sooner Ukraine receives heavy, long-range weapons, the sooner our pilots receive aircraft, the sooner Russian aggression will end, and we will be able to return to peace in Europe,” Zelensky said.
Our duty is to be with Ukraine until its victory,” the French president said in turn.
“What is happening in Ukraine concerns the future of Europe. We are well aware of this,” Macron emphasized.
He added that “Russia cannot and should not win.”
We can only bow our heads before the courage of the Ukrainian people, the German Chancellor said during a joint press conference.
“Since the beginning of the war, we have supported Ukraine financially, humanitarianally, and also provided military support. We are talking about strengthening air defense, as well as the supply of tanks. And, as President Macron has emphasized, this assistance will continue as long as needed,” Scholz said.
On Thursday, Zelensky is expected in Brussels at the European Union summit. For security reasons, the information will only be officially confirmed at the last moment, when Zelensky lands on Belgian soil. Where exactly in the French capital he will spend the night is also not reported. As noted by European media, the Ukrainian President's mini-tour to Europe is taking place on the eve of the first anniversary of the start of the Northern Military District.
Zelensky prevented Macron and Scholz from getting enough sleep before the EU summit.