French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that there was an agreement on removing heavy weapons from Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and that talks were underway on the modalities around this.
“We managed to protect Chernobyl and our goal is to protect Zaporizhzhia. The coming weeks will be crucial,” he said as he arrived to attend an international conference hosted by France.
The event aims to provide urgent aid to help Ukraine get through freezing winter temperatures as Russian forces target civilian infrastructure across the country.
“Russia is trying to sow terror among the population through attacks on civilian infrastructure,” the French president stressed.
Among those attending the conference are Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska and Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. An online speech will be delivered by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
The conference is also attended by representatives of French business interested in rebuilding Ukraine after the war and French and European diplomats.
EUR 800 mln urgently needed
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Ukraine’s allies gathered in Paris he needed at least EUR 800 mln in urgent winter energy aid.
“It is a lot, but the price is less than the cost of blackout,” he said as he addressed the meeting via video link.
“Thousands of companies, social services, continue to function thanks to generators. Hospitals function thanks to generators. Thanks to these generators, hundreds of thousands of jobs have been saved,” the president pointed out.
Germany to pledge EUR 50 mln
“Germany will approve another EUR 50 mln in winter aid for Ukraine,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock announced at the conference.
This comes on top of EUR 160 mln already pledged by Berlin at a conference in Bucharest earlier in the year.
Baerbock said Germany was working to deliver generators, blankets and heating fuel to Ukraine over Christmas, as Russia’s pummelling of power facilities causes power shortages in many parts of the country.