Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is on an official visit to Paris on June 7. He is due to meet President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée at the end of the day. Before meeting his French counterpart, the Ukrainian president appeared before the National Assembly where he delivered a speech to French deputies.
3 mins
Thanks from Volodymyr Zelensky greeted by thunderous applause from the deputies. The day after the announcement by Emmanuel Macron of the delivery of fighter planes by Francethe Ukrainian president did not hide his satisfaction.
“ I am sure that a day will come when Ukraine will be able to see in its sky these planes as we saw them yesterday in the sky of Normandy and will prove that Europe is stronger than the evil that dared to threaten it “, said Volodymyr Zelensky.
But he also recalled that Russia was a common enemy of Ukraine and Europe, recalling in particular its actions against French interests. “ This Russian regime knows no limits, Europe is no longer enough for it, it has destroyed Syria, is disrupting the Sahel, it is investing in terror », warns the Ukrainian president.
Putin is the anti-Europe, insisted Volodymir Zelensky, while displaying his optimism for a diplomatic solution to the conflict with the peace conference organized in Switzerland next week. “ Dear friends, the peace summit will be our D-Day, the day of diplomacy », he proclaims in front of the National Assembly.
But on June 15 and 16 near Lucerne, there will be many absentees: in addition to Russia, which is not invited, China and most of the countries of Africa and Latin America are not expected to make the trip.
Read alsoUkraine: what is Volodymyr Zelensky looking for in Paris?
Zelensky’s arrival in the Assembly poses a problem for opposition parties
If the different parties all reaffirm their support for Ukraine, the choice of date poses a problem for them. For MP Arnaud le Gall of France Insoumise, this speech was not welcome two days before the elections, moreover without debate.
LFI put on the same level as Emmanuel Macron by Marine Le Pen. The head of the RN deputies came to the half-empty chamber this morning while deeming the speech inappropriate.
“ It is part of an operation to exploit the Ukrainian conflict by Emmanuel Macron. We had two poles in this campaign: LFI which continues to exploit the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Emmanuel Macron has constantly exploited Ukraine. “, she declared on RTL this Friday.
On the right, at Les Républicains, the head of the list François Xavier Bellamy also sees in Volodymyr Zelensky’s speech the hand of President Macron and an anti-democratic drift.
“ The Ukrainian people are fighting for democracy. I regret that in this fight, we are not vigilant enough about the health of our own democracy. That a President of the Republic decides to saturate the media space seems to me to be a sign of a form of partiality », he judges at the microphone of RFI.
Among the oppositions, only the Communist Party, which is also presenting a list to the Europeans, considers the Ukrainian president’s intervention to be important in form, although worrying in substance.