Macron Pledges Air Defence, Winter Energy Support for Ukraine After Zelenskyy Talks
France will strengthen Ukraine’s air defences and help it meet its winter energy needs, President Emmanuel Macron said after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in New York.
Macron warned that Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure threatened to leave millions of families without heating and electricity. His assurances came ahead of the 81st United Nations General Assembly and a scheduled meeting between Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump on Tuesday.
“Russia's strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure threaten to deprive millions of families of heating and electricity. France will stand by Ukraine to face the winter, and the G7 Energy will also be mobilized at its side,” Macron wrote on X.
Radars and interceptors for Kyiv
The French President said support would include equipment to strengthen Ukraine’s ability to defend against aerial attacks.
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“We are strengthening its air defense with the signing of a contract for the delivery of radars, as well as the supply of interceptors,” he said.
Macron also said he had discussed assistance for Ukraine with Trump, alongside proposals to curb attacks on energy facilities and a possible moratorium in the Black Sea.
“I also discussed this support with President Trump, as well as the prospect of an energy truce and a moratorium in the Black Sea, which we support,” he said.
He described these issues as central to negotiations that must resume and deliver a “just and lasting peace”.
France, US seek halt to infrastructure attacks
Earlier on Monday, Macron met Trump and said the two countries would coordinate efforts to secure a moratorium on strikes against energy infrastructure and Ukrainian civilian infrastructure.
“Civilian populations must be protected, and we must initiate as soon as possible a serious negotiation on the conditions for peace between Russia and Ukraine,” Macron said following that meeting.
The proposals come as attacks on energy facilities feature increasingly in diplomatic discussions over the conflict.
Trump has renewed pressure on Zelenskyy to halt attacks on Russian oil refineries, linking the strikes to tighter global diesel supplies and rising fuel prices.
In a Truth Social post on Monday, Trump said Russia had “lost control” of its diesel industry because of the war, with several refineries damaged and temporarily out of operation.
He also claimed that 25,000 people, mostly soldiers, were being killed each month and called for an end to the conflict.
Trump’s remarks preceded his scheduled Tuesday meeting with Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the General Assembly. Following a telephone conversation on Sunday, Zelenskyy described their dialogue as significant and suggested the upcoming talks could bring substantial changes. His office confirmed the Tuesday meeting.
With inputs from ANI