Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will be received by President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace on Friday as part of an official visit to France.
Zelensky will first meet with Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu tomorrow morning and then visit the defense company KNDS in Versailles.
The Élysée announced that the company plans to set up an arms production facility in Ukraine to support the country in its defense against Russia.
Zelenskiy’s other stops on Friday include the lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, in the morning, where the Ukrainian president plans to address lawmakers. He is also expected to be received by Mayor Anne Hidalgo at City Hall.
Zelensky arrived in France on Thursday and took part in the commemoration of D-Day, the Allied landings in Normandy 80 years ago during World War II.
Macron announced that he wanted to comment on the issue of a possible deployment of French military trainers in Ukraine during Zelensky’s visit.
The possibility of sending Western military trainers to the war zone to provide more effective support to the Ukrainian army, which has come under pressure, has been discussed repeatedly in recent times. Officially, there are no such training programs so far.
It remains to be seen whether France will actually decide to take such a step alone or together with partners. In February, Macron raised the possibility of sending ground troops to Ukraine, which he would not rule out, sparking a lively debate among NATO’s Western allies.
