Zelenskyy to meet Macron in Paris to talk weapons

A FRENCH MILITARY BASE — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will hold talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Thursday — part of the Ukrainian leader’s whistle-stop tour across Europe to garner more support for his effort to end his country’s war with Russia.

The meeting will be an opportunity “to reaffirm the determination of France to continue to provide … unfailing support for Ukraine,” the Elysée said in a press statement.

The Ukrainian president is also expected to meet German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer as he presents his “victory plan” to defeat Moscow, after a Saturday international summit was postponed when U.S. President Joe Biden pulled out due to Hurricane Milton.

Zelenskyy arrives a day after Macron visited Ukrainian troops training at a military camp in eastern France — a show of support for Kyiv as fears swirl about flagging support among Western allies. The trip also comes as the new French government, led by conservative veteran Michel Barnier, is under pressure to cut spending to rein in a ballooning deficit.

Macron pledged earlier this year to deliver up to €3 billion in military aid to Ukraine in 2024. An Elysée adviser said the president was “working” on the aid despite the budgetary constraints.

On Wednesday the French president met with several dozen Ukrainian soldiers inside a large makeshift tent at the base — whose exact location is confidential for security reasons. In one exchange, the French president told the troops: “We need to help you better in terms of training and equipment,” and asked for feedback on the training.

Ukrainian forces have complained that the training they receive from Western allies is often ill-suited to the realities of modern warfare in eastern Ukraine — such as an intensity of combat that no Western army has experienced for generations.

Starting this summer, French armed forces have been training a Ukrainian brigade, with 2,300 soldiers receiving instruction on everything from equipment use to more complex leadership roles.

“We need your direct feedback [on equipment]. We learned a lot these last two years, [the donations] of equipment weren’t always very well coordinated,” Macron said.

The French aim is to improve Ukrainian coordination in the use of the equipment Paris has given Kyiv, including Caesar self-propelled howitzers, AMX armored vehicles and Milan anti-tank missile systems.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and French Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu held talks on the sidelines of the visit.

The French military base has been adapted to recreate the fighting conditions in Ukraine with a network of trenches, drones and sound effects.

French soldiers, many of whom saw action in the Sahel region in Africa and in Afghanistan, have had to adapt their training to the specifics of the Ukrainian war.

Lieutenant Charles, who was not authorized to give his last name for security reasons, said they’d had to adapt their trench warfare training to the reality of fighting Russian troops.

“The trenches we build aren’t any different but the threats have changed radically. Normally you face light enemy fire, but the drones can attack right up close,” he said.

French instructors have also focused on how best to use ammunition — which is often in short supply in Ukraine.

“The consumption of ammunition is a real logistical challenge because you have to protect supplies and sometimes you need to fire intensively and sometimes you need to do more surgical strikes,” said a lieutenant colonel who did not want to be named.