World must help Ukraine survive this winter - Macron
He stated this at the international conference Solidarity with the Ukrainian People, held in Paris, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
As Macron stated, Russia, which is seeing no military gains, responds to the advance of Ukrainian troops with acts of terror against the energy infrastructure and the civilian population of Ukraine. This is a violation of international humanitarian law, and such acts cannot be left unpunished.
"I’d like to say clearly: in this context, Ukraine, the victim of this aggression, must decide for itself what this punishment will be. And the 10 points of President Zelensky's plan are very appropriate, we must discuss this together... But now the first thing we must understand is that we need to help the Ukrainian people to endure, we need to help Ukraine survive this winter," the French leader emphasized.
According to him, the results of today's conference should be very concrete.
"First, it will be about mobilizing our partners, friends of Ukraine, those who work in international organizations, who provide funding, humanitarian organizations, so that they can set up all activities that will help the population of Ukraine to get water, energy, heat, food, clothing, and survive the winter. I hope that our collective efforts will be at their best," Macron said.
He noted that France has provided EUR 151.5 million in aid since year-start and will soon increase this contribution by another EUR 48.5 million.
At the same time, according to Macron, as a result of this conference, aid worth EUR 25 million is set to be disbursed to support Ukraine in the winter, as well as other packages aimed at helping children, health care, while EUR 26.5 million is planned to help the energy sector, in particular in the purchase of LED lamps. In addition, it is planned to provide 63 new high-power generators and 100 transformers, as well as funding for water supply and food assistance, "and this will be in addition to the assistance that has already been provided," he noted.
The president of France emphasized that this assistance should be very operational, concrete, and yield quick results.
In this connection, Macron recalled his talks with the prime ministers of Norway and Luxembourg, remarking: "It is necessary that the questions be asked clearly, so that we have concrete answers to them. This requires very close coordination, and each country must have precise contacts in order for aid to arrive in Ukraine at the right time."
He also noted that Ukraine's partners are working on the "Paris Mechanism" for aid, as President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky called it.
"This will be the European Union's civilian assistance, and it will be expanded with the participation of all other partners," Macron said, adding that many non-European countries joined today's conference in Paris and intend to join this mechanism and provide long-term assistance to Ukraine.
Macron noted that this assistance would be additional to the mechanisms developed by the Group of Seven.
He also informed that about 700 French enterprises and companies will make long-term investments in Ukraine.
"France, other countries – all are mobilizing to prove their solidarity with Ukraine, to stand side by side with the people of Ukraine and not to weaken their assistance even for a minute," Macron emphasized.
As reported by Ukrinform, the international conference "Solidarity with the Ukrainian people" is taking place in Paris, in which 48 countries and 26 international organizations are participating.
