The President of France Emmanuel Macron informed that Western partners of Ukraine will create a coalition to supply Ukraine with long-range weapons — medium and long-range missiles, as well as bombs.
Macron stated this at a briefing following the meeting of Ukraineʼs partner countries in Paris, which took place on February 26.
"Now we have eight coalitions. We also decided to create a ninth, a long-range strike coalition," Macron explained.
Macron noted that the new coalition was created to supply missiles and bombs of medium and long range to Ukraine, and added that the defeat of Russia is necessary for security and stability in Europe.
France also supports the mobilization of European funding. Macron said that European countries should assume debt obligations and create a special fund to "finance joint military initiatives in support of Ukraine."
In addition, Macron clarified the alliesʼ plans to supply Ukraine with ammunition and called on the Europeans to produce more.
"In the next ten days, we are going to put all these efforts on the table, because we have interviewed many European and non-European countries that have ammunition," Macron emphasized.
In addition, France supported the initiative of the Czech Republic to purchase ammunition outside of Europe in order to quickly deliver much-needed military equipment to Ukraine.
Answering the question whether it is an option to send Western troops to Ukraine, Macron said that it was discussed at the conference.
"Today there is no consensus regarding the official sending of troops to Ukraine. But in terms of options, nothing can be ruled out," Macron added, without saying which countries were considering such a move.
- The conference organized by Macron in Paris was attended by about 25 European heads of state and government, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Polish President Andrzej Duda. The USA and Canada were also represented.