Macron assures that the Ukrainian counteroffensive will last “several weeks, even months”

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French President Emmanuel Macron has stressed that the Ukrainian military counteroffensive against Russian forces will last “several weeks, even months.”

“There is a counteroffensive. We want it to be as successful as possible so that a negotiation phase can be reached in good conditions,” Macron said during an event at the Elysée Palace with his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda, and the German chancellor. Olaf Scholz.

“Russia’s war of aggression is already a strategic and geopolitical failure for the aggressor (…). It is also clear that Ukraine is not going to be conquered,” he added.

Macron thus reiterated the “unconditional support for Ukraine” by the “united” European countries against the “aggressor”. “We are going to make sure that Russia doesn’t come out victorious, but also that she can’t do it again,” he argued. In this sense, he has highlighted the French military support in the form of weapons and ammunition, which has “intensified” recently.

Duda, for his part, has highlighted the importance of Ukraine being accepted into NATO and has asked for a clear timetable for this. “Ukraine is waiting for an unequivocal signal about the expectations of NATO membership,” she pointed out.

This is what the Ukrainian leadership and soldiers who are defending Ukraine from Russian invasion expect, he has argued. She has also targeted the NATO summit to be held in Vilnius in July and which he hopes will be “the light at the end of the tunnel” for Ukraine.