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Turkey host a peace summit with Russia's participation. However, Zelenskyy replied that he did not want to see Russian representatives at this summit
French President Emmanuel Macron has insisted that he does not seek an escalation of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, but says he considers Russia and the Kremlin regime to be "enemies" of France. The French president believes that if Russia wins the war, "Europe’s credibility will be reduced to zero".
"Today, Russia is definitely an enemy. The Kremlin regime is an enemy. As I have always said, we are not waging a war against Russia and the Russian people, and we are supporting Ukraine," the French president said. "We are doing everything we can to help Ukraine defeat Russia, because I will say it very simply: there can be no lasting peace if there is no sovereignty, if there is no return to Ukraine’s internationally recognised borders, including Crimea," he added.
France is building an alliance of countries open to potentially sending Western troops to Ukraine — and in the process deepening its clash with a more cautious Berlin. French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné was in Lithuania on March 8, where he met his Baltic and Ukrainian counterparts to buttress the idea that foreign troops could end up helping Ukraine in areas like demining. "It is not for Russia to tell us how we should help Ukraine in the coming months or years," Séjourné said at a meeting chaired by Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis and attended by his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba. "It is not for Russia to organize how we deploy our actions, or to set red lines. So we decide it among us."
Finnish FM does not rule out sending Western troops to Ukraine. At the same time, Finland is not currently willing to send troops or even ready to discuss it, Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said.
Given the protracted war in Ukraine, what will be the largest NATO base in Europe is to be built in Romania. Construction of the base, which has an area of almost 3,000 hectares, has begun. It will be able to house 10,000 military personnel and their families. It will be larger than the Ramstein military base in Germany. The preliminary cost of building the base is estimated at €2.5B.
Ukraine hopes EU accession talks will begin in first half of 2024. The Ukrainian government believes the negotiations on the country's accession to the European Union can start in the first half of 2024, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told Euractiv in an interview published on March 18.
US should designate Russia state sponsor of terrorism. U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham has called on the U.S. presidential administration to support Russia's inclusion in the list of countries sponsoring terrorism.
Ukraine has fulfilled 88% of its obligations under the association agreement with the EU. According to a relevant report, the progress of
17 UKRAINE Country Report April 2024 www.intellinews.com