Around twenty European heads of state and government will meet in Paris this Monday to send Russian President Vladimir Putin a message of determination towards Ukraine and counter the Kremlin's speech about Russia's announced victory, the Elysee Palace said on Sunday. The Ukrainian president makes an initial assessment of the losses.
Emmanuel Macron invited his European counterparts to a hastily organized working meeting at the Elysée, while France has noticed an intensification of Russian aggressiveness in Ukraine and beyond in recent weeks, according to an adviser to the French president. “Our goal is to cast doubt on President Putin and destroy the idea that he is tempted to believe that he will win,” an adviser to Emmanuel Macron said during a press conference.
After initial successes against the Russian army, Ukraine has suffered setbacks on battlefields in the east in recent weeks as its generals complain of a shortage of weapons and soldiers. Among those expected are German Chancellor Olaf Schloz, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, British Foreign Minister David Cameron, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte as well as Scandinavian, Baltic and Polish heads of state and government. Paris. The United States will be represented by Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Jim O'Brien, while Canada will be represented by Defense Minister Bill Blair.
The Elysée Palace also said it wanted to fight the unfolding catastrophe in Europe, while earlier this month the English phrase “doom and gloom” (sinistrose) was bandied about Ukraine in the corridors of the Munich Security Conference. “We are neither 'fatal' nor 'dark',” the Franglais advisor said in the text. “We want Russia to understand this. Russia must count on us as a whole to end the war and restore Ukraine’s rights.”
However, European countries should not make any new announcements about arms sales to Ukraine, the adviser said, but would examine ways to act more effectively on the ground and improve coordination between allies and Ukraine. The Elysée Palace says it has noted renewed aggressiveness and intimidation from Russia in Europe in recent weeks, including the death of a Russian deserter in Spain this month, at a time when Ukraine's presidential election support is in question becomes .
Initial assessment
At the same time, the Ukrainian president said at a press conference this Sunday, on the occasion of the first official report in several months, that 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed since the Russian invasion began. The Ukrainian leader added that he could not name the number of wounded, arguing that it would help the Russian army. “31,000 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in this war. Not 300,000, not 150,000 (…) Putin is lying. Nevertheless, it remains a great loss for us,” he explained from Kiev.
Since the end of 2022, when presidential adviser Mykhaïlo Podoliak put the figure at 13,000 soldiers killed, Ukraine has not published an official report on its losses. A New York Times article published in August, based on statements from American officials, claimed that nearly 70,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in the conflict. During his press conference, Volodymyr Zelensky said the number of deaths on the Russian side was 180,000. Russia does not publish data on the number of its soldiers killed. The Ukrainian president also said that tens of thousands of civilians have been killed in the country's occupied territories since the start of the war.
In addition, Volodymyr Zelensky estimated that Russian forces would launch a new offensive at the end of May or this summer. “We will prepare for their attack. In my opinion, their attack, which began on October 8, did not bear fruit,” Volodymyr Zelensy added. The Ukrainian leader also said that Ukraine was working on a new counteroffensive, adding that he could not provide further details. “There is a plan (for a counteroffensive), the plan is clear, I can’t tell you the details.”