Macron and Zelensky to travel together to EU summit

FRENCH President Emmanuel Macron and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky will fly together on Thursday morning from Paris to a summit of EU heads of state and government in Brussels, the Elysee Palace announced.

The two leaders will leave Villacoublay, near Paris, at around 08:30 am (0730 GMT). They are expected to arrive in Brussels at 10:00 am (0900).

The Ukrainian president, who is on a surprise tour of Europe, is leaving his country for the second time since the beginning of the Russian offensive on February 24, 2022. He travelled to Washington in December.

On Wednesday, he went to London, his closest ally after the United States in terms of military aid, and then to Paris, where he dined at the Elysee Palace with Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz before spending the night.

Zelensky urged leaders in both capitals to deliver fighter aircraft “as soon as possible” to push back the Russian offensive in his country.

BROTHERS-IN-ARMS. France’s President Emmanuel Macron (left) welcomes Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky upon his arrival at the Elysee presidential palace for a meeting with France’s President and Germany’s Chancellor in Paris on February 8, 2023. Zelensky made his first visits to Britain and France since the Russian invasion almost one year ago, pressing his allies for more weaponry and in particular fighter jets. AFP