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.
France plans to start training Ukrainian pilots and mechanics for the promised Mirage fighter jets immediately, Macron said on Friday evening after talks with Zelensky.
"The priority is to start training pilots and mechanics immediately. This will begin in France in the next few days," Macron said at the Élysée Palace in Paris.
During Zelensky's visit, it was also decided that the Franco-German defence company KNDS would produce grenades and spare parts for Caesar guns in Ukraine in future.
Macron also announced further deliveries of Scalp cruise missiles and a fund totalling €200 million ($216 million) to support the Ukrainian economy. Specifically, companies that want to invest in the country's critical infrastructure are to benefit from this.
Zelensky told French lawmakers earlier Friday 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 the 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.
France is discussing the deployment of military trainers to Ukraine with partners, Macron said after talks with Zelensky.
"We want to have a coalition for reasons of efficiency and several of our partners have already given their agreement," Macron said on Friday evening. "We will use the coming days to finalize the largest possible coalition capable of responding to Ukraine's request."
Macron emphasized that this request was legitimate. Under certain circumstances, it would be much more efficient and practical to train on Ukrainian soil.
"We are not at war with Russia, we do not want escalation, but we want to do everything in our power to help Ukraine resist," Macron said.
"Is it an escalation if Ukraine asks us to train mobilized soldiers on its soil? No, that does not mean deploying people, European or allied soldiers on the front line," said Macron.
There has been speculation for days as to whether France would send personnel to Ukraine to train soldiers on the ground.
But the United States is not planning to take part in such an initiative, the communications director of the US National Security Council, John Kirby, said on Friday evening on the fringes of US President Joe Biden's visit to France.
Biden respects Macron's stance, but "at the same time, as president of the United States and commander-in-chief, he's made his own view, well known that there's not going to be US boots on the ground in combat in Ukraine."
Ukraine has been defending itself against a full-scale Russian invasion for more than two years. Recently, there have been repeated discussions about the possibility of sending Western military trainers to the war zone to provide more effective support to the Ukrainian army, which has come under increasing pressure.
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.
