Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and French President Emmanuel Macron will meet Thursday in Paris "to reaffirm France's determination to continue to provide, over the long term and with all of its partners, unwavering support to Ukraine and the Ukrainian people," according to a statement from the Elysee Palace.
The visit to France will be Zelenskyy's fifth since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and it comes a day after Macron visited part of a brigade of Ukrainian troops training at an undisclosed location in France.
France is training 2,300 soldiers of the 4,500-member Anne of Kyiv brigade, named after the Kyiv-born princess who married French King Henry I in 1051. The other 2,200 soldiers are being trained in Ukraine.
A French presidency official said the Ukrainian soldiers' training will be complete in a few months and is "completely identical to the situation they will find on the ground."
The official said the troops "will face real situations — stress, noise, drones," during their training.
France has pledged to equip the brigade. Included among the promised items are 128 armored vehicles, 18 Caesar howitzers and 20 anti-tank missile units.
Russia says it destroyed 47 drones
Russia said Wednesday it destroyed 47 Ukrainian aerial drones that targeted multiple areas along the Russia-Ukraine border.
The Russian Defense Ministry said it shot down 24 of the drones over the Bryansk region, while downing other drones over Belgorod, Kursk, Rostov, Krasnodar and the Sea of Azov.
Ukrainian forces have repeatedly targeted border regions as they try to repel a full-scale Russian invasion that began in early 2022.
Ukraine’s military said Wednesday it shot down 21 of 22 Russian drones launched in overnight attacks.
The intercepts took place over the Kyiv, Odesa and Vinnystia regions, the Ukrainian air force said.
Zelenskyy seeks more air defense aid
Russia also used three ballistic missiles in its latest round of daily attacks that have prompted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to appeal for more air defense aid as well as permission to use Western-donated weapons to strike military sites inside of Russia.
A U.S.-led gathering of countries coordinating aid for Ukraine was due to take place Saturday in Germany, with U.S. President Joe Biden presiding over the high-level talks.
But with a major hurricane impacting the United States, the White House said Tuesday that Biden would not attend the talks.
Some information for this story was provided by Reuters.
