France's Macron says training of Ukrainians for Mirage combat aircraft will start "immediately"

(7 Jun 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

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ASSOCIATED PRESS VIA AGENCY POOL (AFP)
Paris - 7 June 2024
1. French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in press conference
2. SOUNDBITE (French) Emmanuel Macron, French President:
“We have agreed on new deliveries, and on a long-term basis, with the announcement of the delivery of a first series of Mirage 2000-5 and the necessary pilot training which will begin immediately, pilots and mechanics. We also proposed, and decided together, that France would train and equip an entire brigade of the Ukrainian army as part of the effort to regenerate its forces. That's around 4,500 soldiers.”
2. Press conference
3. SOUNDBITE (French) Emmanuel Macron, French President:
“When Ukraine asks us to train on its sovereign soil mobilised soldiers, is it - it's an escalation? No, it's not deploying European or allied soldiers, people, to the front line. It's recognising Ukraine's sovereignty over its territory. Who would we be to give in to Russia's invocations or threats? Who, de facto, would decide that Ukraine no longer has any sovereignty to welcome a (business) company or instructors? That's not the line we've taken. We are trying to be consistent.
4. Press conference
5. SOUNDBITE (French) Emmanuel Macron, French President:
“For the sake of efficiency, we would like to have a coalition, and several of our partners have already given their agreement. Out of respect for them, I am not going to tell you that France would do it alone, because I already know that we're not alone. Therefore, we are going to use the next few days to finalise the broadest possible coalition, which will have the vocation of responding to Ukraine's request within the framework that has always been ours from the outset, as I just said.”
6. Macron and Zelenskyy shake hands and hug
STORYLINE:
French President Emmanuel Macron announced Friday that France will "immediately" begin training Ukrainian forces with Mirage combat aircraft in a joint press conference in Paris with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, following emotional days of commemoration that marked the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

“We also proposed, and decided together, that France would train and equip an entire brigade of the Ukrainian army as part of the effort to regenerate its forces,” Macron added.

France is working in "coalition" with several partners who will work together on plans in the "next few days" to help the country's defense against Russia's aggression, he added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy joined world leaders in France on Thursday to commemorate the D-Day invasion.

Zelenskyy was also in France to seek more Western help even as his forces battled to stave off a Russian onslaught near the eastern city of Kharkiv in a war that has become Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II.
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