We must help Ukraine launch counteroffensive: Macron
Among the summit's primary concerns were the situation in Ukraine, defense, economic cooperation, and immigration
-
French President Emmanuel Macron, center right, uses an umbrella to protect Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak after a French-British summit at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Friday, March 10, 2023 (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, Pool)
During a meeting with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron revealed the countries' intended plans to assist Ukraine in launching a counteroffensive soon.
On Friday, Paris hosted the 36th France-UK summit; (the most recent summit was held in back 2018). The situation in Ukraine, defense, economic cooperation, and immigration were among the summit's primary concerns.
"Our desire for the near term is to help Ukraine survive and launch the counteroffensive it wants to wage," Macron said at a joint press conference in Paris following the summit.
Additionally, Sunak revealed that the United Kingdom and France have concluded a new deal in the field of peaceful nuclear energy.
"Today we are going even further with an ambitious new energy partnership. We've signed a new deal on civil nuclear cooperation, agreed that France will examine the case for new energy interconnectors, and committed to working together on low-carbon energy," he said.
Read more: France joins UK in controversial 'asylum ban' draft bill talks
It was reported that a new deal aimed at blocking migrants from crossing the channel between France and the UK could be agreed on between the leaders of the two countries during a summit set to take place.
After years of tension, ties between the largest military and diplomatic forces in western Europe are anticipated to be repaired after the summit.
Read more: France, UK sign new deal to thwart migrant Channel crossings
On matters related to the energy crisis, the two countries were engulfed by a series of strikes over the rising cost of living as a result of high energy costs.
The UK alone lost a record number of working days totaling 2,471,000 between June and December last year due to the strikes.
On the other hand, France has faced its own share of strikes over Emmanuel Macron's controversial pension reform aiming to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64, with 1.28 million people protesting recently in the streets, according to official figures.
The two leaders were also reported to discuss the revival of a deal between France and Australia, which was suspended in 2021 due to Australia calling off the purchase at the expense of increasing cooperation in the AUKUS alliance.
