Macron: EU ready to support Ukraine 'for the long term'

French president says ‘there can be no weakness, no spirit of compromise’ in the face of the Russian invasion, ‘because it’s a matter of our freedom’

KYIV, Ukraine — French President Emmanuel Macron vowed Tuesday that the EU’s support for Ukraine as it struggles against Russia’s invasion would continue “for the long term.”

Six months after the conflict erupted, “our determination has not changed and we are ready to maintain this effort for the long term,” Macron said in a video address to participants in the Crimea Platform conference in Kyiv.

“This destabilization of the international order and the disruptions that have followed, on the humanitarian level, in terms of energy and food, are the consequences of the choice made by Russia and Russia alone to attack Ukraine on February 24,” he said.

“Against this there can be no weakness, no spirit of compromise, because it’s a matter of our freedom, for everyone, and of peace everywhere around the world,” Macron added.

Ukraine’s Western allies have supplied Kyiv with billions of dollars’ worth of military equipment and other aid that staved off a quick defeat. But they are wary of joining the fight directly against the Russian forces that now occupy large parts of Ukraine’s east and south.