Macron warns against limiting the Ukrainian army
Kyiv • UNN
French President Emmanuel Macron stated that the Ukrainian army cannot be limited, amid various peace proposals to cap the size of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. EU countries hope to reach a final decision on financing Ukraine's defense, including frozen Russian assets.
French President Emmanuel Macron warned that the Ukrainian army cannot be limited. As Sky News writes, this statement came after various peace proposals were put forward in recent days, which provide for limiting the number of personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, UNN reports.
Details
In comments after today's virtual meeting of the coalition of goodwill, Macron added that EU countries hope to reach a final decision on financing Ukraine's defense.
In his speech, he mentioned frozen Russian assets in Europe – an issue that had previously been a subject of contention for the bloc.
Last month, the EU approved the latest package of sanctions but failed to agree on using frozen assets to finance a loan for Ukraine.
This was due to some countries expressing legal concerns about the possible consequences of such a move.
In his speech, Macron also stated that Ukraine needs a "serious" peace that "respects international law."
However, despite his objections to limiting the size of the Ukrainian army, in the European counter-proposals for a peace agreement between the US and Russia, Kyiv's allies agreed to limit the size of the Ukrainian army in peacetime to 800,000 people.
The American-Russian plan provided for a limit of 600,000 people.
Recall
On November 20, Axios published a 28-point peace plan by US President Donald Trump between Ukraine and Russia, which provides for territorial concessions, restrictions on the Ukrainian armed forces, certain US guarantees, and economic components.
Against this background, Ukraine and the United States began negotiations in Geneva. The negotiations lasted on November 23 and 24. As a result, the initial 28-point peace plan of the United States was reduced to 19 points.
The Ukrainian delegation, after a meeting with the US in Geneva, stated that there is a "common understanding regarding the key terms of the agreement," and a visit by President Volodymyr Zelensky to the US is expected "at the earliest possible date in November" to reach an agreement with Trump.
This comes amid reports that Trump pressured Zelensky to reach a deal before American Thanksgiving, November 27, although US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called this deadline flexible.
The President's Office stated that any discussions of territorial issues would likely take place at a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump.