Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked France for promising to send Mirage fighter jets to his country, in a boost to Kiev's efforts to protect its skies from Russia's daily aerial assault.
"Your fighter planes, your excellent fighter planes, piloted by Ukrainian pilots, prove that Europe is stronger, that Europe is stronger than the evil that dared to threaten it," said Zelensky on Friday in an address to the French parliament in Paris.
The previous evening, French President Emmanuel Macron announced the transfer of Mirage 2000 fighter jets to Ukraine. The jets can be used for the deployment of air-launched cruise missiles. Macron did not say how many of the jets would be provided.
Macron also announced plans for Ukrainian pilots to be trained by France from the summer.
Zelensky told French lawmakers that Russian President Vladimir Putin is "anti-Europe" and would not stop his territorial conquest with Ukraine, comparing Moscow's campaign to Hitler's in World War II.
"The situation is the same today as in the 1930s, when Hitler was doing the same against his neighbours," Zelensky said.
He rejected the idea of freezing the war along current front line and urged members of parliament not to slacken their support for Ukraine.
"We live in a time when Europe is no longer a continent of peace, unfortunately," Zelensky said at the beginning of his address.
"Again, Europe's cities are being destroyed and villages are burned," he said of Russia's bombing of Ukraine. He also decried the abduction of Ukrainian children in occupied territories.
"This is against Ukraine now. But this can be aimed at other countries tomorrow, and we already see clearly the direction of the aggression - the Baltic countries, Poland, the Balkans," he said.
"The Russian regime does not see any limits and even Europe is no longer enough," Zelensky said, pointing to Russian military actions in Syria and Moscow's growing footprint in the Sahel region of Africa.
The speech was interrupted several times by applause.
Zelensky will be received by President Macron at the Élysée Palace on Friday evening.
A visit to the defence company KNDS in Versailles was also planned, which according to the French government intends to manufacture weapons in Ukraine.
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.