G7 cities must stand with Ukraine’s communities, Nancy Mayor says

This was stated by Mathieu Klein, the Mayor of Nancy, which hosted the Urban 7 (U7) Mayors’ Summit, in comments to an Ukrinform correspondent.

“We wanted Ukrainian cities to be at the center of attention because today the main issue for the G7 countries is supporting Ukraine in its struggle for freedom. Many cities are cooperating with Ukrainian cities, including through projects such as the one we have with Vinnytsia,” Klein said.

He stressed that the Urban 7 Summit in Nancy was an opportunity to demonstrate that Ukraine remains a priority for cities across the G7 countries. According to the mayor, he also expects this position to be reaffirmed at the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Évian-les-Bains.

Klein spoke about the practical cooperation between Nancy and the Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia, as well as with other European partner cities. According to him, Nancy, Vinnytsia, Karlsruhe, and Lublin are jointly developing a project to support hospitals in Vinnytsia.

“We were in Vinnytsia about three weeks ago together with the Mayor of Karlsruhe. This year, much of our work focused on a joint project involving Vinnytsia, Karlsruhe, Nancy, and Lublin to support Vinnytsia’s hospitals in the fields of orthopedic surgery, prosthetics, and orthotics for soldiers returning from the front. The city of Vinnytsia is particularly active in supporting veterans and service members returning from the battlefield,” he said.

According to the Mayor, the parties have already signed a protocol and submitted a funding application to the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, and the application is “progressing well.”

In addition, Nancy has confirmed its readiness to host around 40 Ukrainian children for a holiday stay, including children from families of internally displaced persons.

Klein recalled that he recently visited Kyiv, where he took part in the Fourth Summit of Cities and Regions in Support of Ukraine. During the visit, he received the Golden Heart distinction from Volodymyr Zelensky. According to Klein, both the visit and the award ceremony were “deeply moving” for him.

In the final declaration of the Urban 7 Mayors’ Summit, participants specifically emphasized the role of Ukrainian cities as strategic local-level partners of the G7, particularly in the areas of resilience, democracy, reconstruction, combating disinformation, and international city diplomacy.

As reported by Ukrinform, Ukrainian Mayors and representatives of municipal administrations attending the Urban 7 Summit spoke about community resilience, the operation of critical infrastructure, and support for military personnel, veterans, internally displaced persons, and civilians during Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.