War in Ukraine: France sets up measures to welcome refugees

Published on : 02/26/2022 – 17:23

Guest of France 24, the diplomat and spokesperson for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Anne-Claire Legendre, expressed her solidarity with the refugees and the Ukrainian president, declaring France ready to welcome them. “President Zelensky shows himself at work, on the ground, he shows a determination and a courage that we all salute and which today inspires the Ukrainian people and the whole world”, he said. she asserted.

She also specified that the French embassy in Kiev was still in place for the moment.

The spokeswoman said she was prepared for the prospect of a “long” war, as President Emmanuel Macron said earlier at the Salon de l’Agriculture.

While declaring that the path of negotiations was always possible and desirable, Anne-Claire Legendre recalled that “Vladimir Poutine rejected the openings to dialogue which were also those of Volodymyr Zelensky, and all of his commitments, including with regard to the agreements of Minsk, so today our message is one of firmness, determination, solidarity vis-à-vis Ukraine.”

The diplomat underlined the extent of the sanctions taken by Paris and Brussels so far: “the package we adopted yesterday is an absolutely spectacular, unprecedented package of massive sanctions which will really asphyxiate the Russian economy in the 70% of the Russian banking system is directly targeted by the sanctions we imposed yesterday.”

She also assured that France remained open to more sanctions and that “discussions are continuing on other developments and other measures which could further strengthen them.”

Anne-Claire Legendre pointed out that the entire Russian economy and its strategic sectors were affected by European reprisals and those of their allies.

>> To read: Report: A night alongside civilians on the road to exodus