Macron: Europe achieves progress in unity, support for Ukraine

Macron stated this in Brussels at a press conference following the Council, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"Things are progressing well and the progress made in recent weeks has been significant both in terms of unity and, above all, in terms of strengthening our position," the French president said.

"For the first time in the text of a European document, we do not just say that we will support Ukraine for as long as it takes, we officially declare that we will support it ‘as intensely as needed’. This means we are ready to act in the face of any attack by the Russians, which is a real change in approach," Macron emphasized.

Among the joint achievements, he mentioned the approval by all countries of the Czech initiative (regarding the purchase of artillery rounds for Ukraine - ed.), which until now had been treated with skepticism, as well as the common understanding of the need for additional financing for Ukraine.

Macron particularly noted the contribution of his Dutch and German counterparts in this area. "Germany is the country in Europe that, from a bilateral point of view, provides the most funding. We should not point the finger at Germany. On the contrary, we must welcome the efforts being made," Macron said.

He noted that individual countries and Europe as a whole have made the financing of Ukraine "visible" over the past few weeks, but Europe is ready to offer further solutions as well.

"If we have to go much farther, if we have to go even deeper, if the situation worsens, if funding other than European runs out, we have to be ready and offer more radical and innovative solutions. This is what we want to do by June at the latest, and this is exactly the mandate we gave the Commission and Council for reflection," the French president said, adding that his country intends to continue working in this direction, in particular, in cooperation with Germany .

As Ukrinform reported eaerlier, French President Emmanuel Macron believes that the very fact that Russian officials have finally called the war against Ukraine a war and not a special military operation should bring Europeans closer to grasping the reality. "Whoever thinks that Russia will stop at Ukraine is wrong," he said.

Photo: LP/Arnaud Journois