French President Emmanuel Macron will host Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday, June 7 in Paris for talks on the war-battered nation's needs, the Elysée palace announced.
"As Russian strikes intensify on the front line and against energy infrastructure, the two presidents will discuss the situation on the ground," the Elysée said on Tuesday. The meeting between the two leaders is set to take place after D-Day commemorations.
The Ukrainian president, who will be welcomed by France's Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu with military honors on Friday morning, will visit a site of the Franco-German arms group KNDS near Paris. The defense group makes artillery guns being used in Ukraine.
Zelensky will also deliver a speech in France's Assemblée Nationale, and meet with the president of the Assemblée, Yaël Braun-Pivet, who visited Ukraine in March. Braun-Pivet said the date of his visit was "on the occasion of the 80th anniversary" of the D-Day landings.
News of his speech met with criticism from the opposition, with the leader of right-wing Republicans in parliament, Olivier Marleix, saying it was "inappropriate" to invite Zelensky to speak just days before the upcoming European elections.
Earlier on Friday, Moscow's top diplomat warned that French military instructors training soldiers in Ukraine would be a "legitimate target" for Russian strikes, amid reports France could send trainers to the country.
Paris does not officially have military personnel assisting or training Ukrainian forces in Ukraine at the moment, but Kyiv said last week it was "in talks" with France on the issue.