Zelenskyy has arrived in Paris

Day 445 since the beginning of the war: Paris promises further arms deliveries to Ukraine. The Russian-controlled city of Donetsk has come under fire.

2:59 a.m.: According to a newspaper report, the head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has offered the Ukrainian government to reveal the positions of Russian troops.

This is reported by the Washington Post newspaper, citing leaked documents from the US secret service. Ukraine rejected the offer. Prigozhin submitted his offer through his contacts with the Ukrainian secret service.

The report is based on secret US documents that, according to “WP”, were leaked to the Discord chat platform. The US Presidential Office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

1:52 a.m.: France has promised new military support to Ukraine in defense against Russian war of aggression. New supplies would be prepared to address the most pressing and immediate needs to strengthen Ukraine’s defenses.

This was announced by France and Ukraine in a joint statement published by the Élysée Palace on Monday night. France’s head of state Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj had previously sat down for a working dinner in Paris for about three hours.

Specifically, it was said from the Élysée Palace that France would continue its efforts in the field of air defense and provide Ukraine with newer systems. On the subject of fighter jets, it was said from Paris that this was a recurring topic, but that the question was probably a bit premature. Before delivering an airplane you have to have appropriately trained pilots. The training takes a while and the Ukrainian pilots were not trained on French models.

12:15 a.m.: According to French President Emmanuel Macron, Russia has already “geopolitically” lost the war in Ukraine. In an interview with the newspaper “L’Opinion” on Sunday, Macron referred, among other things, to the NATO expansion to include Finland and Sweden as a setback for Moscow. In addition, Russia is on the way to a kind of “vassalage to China,” added the president.

11:26 p.m.: The Russian-controlled city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine apparently came under heavy artillery fire on Sunday. The city was hit by hundreds of artillery shells and projectiles from multiple rocket launchers, the Russian state agency TASS reported, citing local authorities.

No information was given about the effects of the shelling. The representation could not be independently verified. Donetsk lies just behind the front lines in eastern Ukraine.

9:10 p.m.: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj arrived in Paris for consultations on Sunday evening after his visit to Germany. After landing at a military airport near Paris, Selenskyj was received by France’s Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne and Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna. Head of State Emmanuel Macron met the Ukrainian President for a working dinner at the Élysée Palace. Macron will reiterate France’s unwavering support for Ukraine, the Elysee Palace said.

According to the Élyséepalast, the talks between Macron and Zelenskyj are about further military and humanitarian support. A long-term perspective for peace in Europe could therefore also be an issue. For Zelenskyy, it is the second visit to Paris since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against his country. It was only at the beginning of February that he met Macron and Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who had also traveled there.