France to mobilize international support for Ukraine mid-December

ISTANBUL

France will mobilize international support for Ukraine in December, President Emmanuel Macron announced early on Thursday, as Russian missiles struck multiple regions, including the capital Kyiv, on Wednesday.

“With winter approaching, we will mobilize international support for Ukraine on December 13 to help that country remain resilient and to guarantee its energy access,” Macron said on Twitter.

He said major strikes inflicted on Ukraine during the day before left much of the country without water or electricity.

“These strikes against civilian infrastructures are war crimes and cannot go unpunished,” Macron said.

“We will not forget Moldova, which was also affected by water and electricity cuts,” he further said, as Moldovan President Maia Sandu blamed Russia for widespread blackouts in her country on the same day.

Macron recently said he plans to speak with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

The French leader also accused Russia of spreading disinformation to promote its “predatory project” in Africa.

On Nov. 1, following a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Macron said he will co-chair a conference to support Ukraine’s civilians throughout winter on Dec. 13 in Paris.

Explosions were reported on Wednesday in the Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kyiv regions of Ukraine amid air raid alerts sounding across the country due to possible Russian strikes.

Emergency blackouts were initiated by Ukraine’s national energy company, while the national nuclear energy company also announced that all power units in four nuclear power plants in the country had automatically disconnected due to a decrease in frequency.