Macron seeks to rally European support for Ukraine

French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday called for rapid action in favour of Ukraine as he opened a conference aimed at strengthening Western support for Kyiv among European leaders with the war there stretching into its third year.

The meeting in Paris was a chance for participants to "reaffirm their unity as well as their determination to defeat the war of aggression waged by Russia in Ukraine", the French presidency said ahead of the gathering.

Ukraine's allies needed to "jumpstart" their support, Macron told representatives of two dozen countries gathered at the Elysee palace as he opened proceedings.

"We have seen hardening of Russia, especially these past few months," Macron said, citing the death in custody of President Vladimir Putin's top opponent Alexei Navalny.

The conference signals Macron's eagerness to present himself as a European champion of Ukraine's cause, amid growing fears that American support could wane in the coming years.

"Battered and bruised, but still standing. Ukraine is fighting for itself, for its ideals, for our Europe. Our commitment at its side will not waver," Macron earlier wrote on X, formerly Twitter, to mark two years since Russian leader Vladimir Putin launched Moscow's full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022.

For Macron, the conference is also a chance to show European autonomy in security matters, which he called for even before the invasion.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Polish President Andrzej Duda were among some 25 European heads of state and government present at the conference, to be joined by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky via video link.

Other states sent ministers, with Foreign Secretary David Cameron in Paris for Britain, and the United States and Canada were also represented.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Zelensky said that leaders in Europe had realised "how dangerous" the war is for "the whole of Europe."

"I think they have realised that Putin will continue this war," he said.

According to the French presidency, the meeting will "examine all means to support Ukraine effectively".

Western officials acknowledge that Russia risks gaining the upper hand in the conflict in 2024 as Ukraine runs out of weapons and ammunition.

Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said on Sunday that half of Western military aid pledged to Kyiv is delivered late, lamenting that "commitment does not constitute delivery".

Revealing the magnitude of Ukraine's human losses, Zelensky said 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in the war with Russia.

A French presidential official, who asked not to be named, said the meeting needed to contradict any "impression that things are falling apart" after Ukraine's setbacks on the battlefield.

"We want to send a clear message to Putin that he will not prevail in Ukraine," said the official.

Even if new aid announcements are not planned, participants will examine ways to "do things better and more decisively," the official added.

There are growing doubts about the viability of long-term US backing for Ukraine as a new aid package struggles to find legislative approval and Donald Trump eyes a return to the presidency in elections later this year.

Zelensky said Sunday that his country's victory "depends" on Western support.

US authorities "know that we need this decision within a month," Zelensky said, referring to the package of military aid.

"We are neither resigned nor defeatist," said the French official, adding, "there will be no victory for Russia in Ukraine."

Debra Cagan, a former American diplomat and now senior advisor at the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center, said if the West had given Ukraine weapons such as F-16 combat aircraft or Taurus German missiles "we would be seeing an entirely different conflict now".

"And that is what indecisiveness does, it causes more deaths, more destruction and harder decisions down the road."

A vote by Hungary's parliament on Monday clearing the final obstacle for Sweden to join NATO was received with relief by Ukraine's allies.

Macron congratulated Sweden, while Scholz called the move "a win for all of us", and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hailed a "historic day" for the military alliance.