France will begin training Ukrainian pilots and continue to help the army in Kyiv prepare a counteroffensive to repel invading Russian forces, President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview with TF1 on Monday.

A day after Volodymyr Zelenskyi’s visit to Paris, Emmanuel Macron announced that Ukrainian pilots would “from now on” study in France.

“I opened the door for pilot training. And this along with several other European countries that are ready. I think there are ongoing discussions with the Americans. Training can begin now,” Emmanuel Macron said, CNN and News.ro reported.

At the same time, he did not specify which aircraft will be used for these exercises, but clarified that France has no intention of sending aircraft to Ukraine yet. “At the moment we are starting training. Anyway, that would be a theoretical discussion (let’s send planes). We have to start training now,” he insisted.

“The stakes are high”

In January, he said that “nothing has been accepted” regarding sending planes to Ukrainians.

This new aid to Ukraine is part of a global aid scheme that Paris is providing to Kyiv. “France still has the same position: to help Ukraine stand up, and now the stake is high. Because the success of this counteroffensive will be decisive for the ability to build a lasting peace,” Macron said on TF1.

“We have decided to supply new ammunition,” the French head of state confirmed, on the other hand, clarifying that it is about missiles with a range that would allow Ukraine to launch a counterattack. “We will not supply weapons that would allow (Ukraine) to reach Russian territory,” Macron said, according to CNN.

He also said that he had agreed with Zelenskyi to send to Ukraine spare parts and technical training for “repair of vehicles and weapons”, which France had already sent.

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