French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. File photoMOSCOW, May 17.French President Emmanuel Macron, in a conversation with Vladimir Zelensky, said that France would continue and increase arms supplies to Ukraine, the Elysee Palace said. «He (Macron) confirmed his full determination to respond to any requests for support from Ukraine, in particular with regard to defence, fuel, humanitarian aid, economic and financial support, and the fight against impunity. as well as the supply of humanitarian equipment,» the Elysee Palace website said in a statement.Zelensky reported on a «long and thorough» conversation with Macron. The parties also reportedly discussed the issue of food security and possible ways to export grain crops from Ukraine, as well as security guarantees that France could provide to Ukraine. Macron in the conversation also told Zelensky that Ukraine's application for EU membership will be considered at the European Council meeting in June based on an assessment by the EC. In this regard, as noted in the statement, Macron recalled his proposal to create a «European political community.» On February 28, Volodymyr Zelensky signed an application for Ukraine's accession to the European Union. The next day, the European Parliament supported a resolution granting Ukraine the status of a candidate country. Earlier, the EU Permanent Representatives agreed to instruct the European Commission to prepare an assessment of the applications of Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova for EU membership.EU Defense Ministers agreed to continue military support for UkraineMakron said that the process of Ukraine's accession to the EU could take several years, even decades. In this regard, he called for the creation of a new «European political community» that could accept Ukraine into its ranks. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that any cargo that contains weapons for Ukraine would become a legitimate target for Russia. Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov noted that pumping Ukraine with weapons from the West does not contribute to the success of Russian-Ukrainian negotiations and will have a negative effect. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops and , on March 25, completed the main tasks of the first stage — significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass. 17.05.2022 InfographicView
