Four years ago, Europe awoke to the sound of Russian bombs falling on Ukraine. Four years of a war of aggression chosen by Russia, in blatant defiance of international law, of a people’s sovereignty, and of human life. Four years of cities struck, of schools and hospitals destroyed, of energy infrastructure methodically targeted to plunge families into cold and terror. Four years: 15,000 Ukrainian civilians killed. Four years of shattered lives—violence, rape, torture, war crimes, and terror. Four years, and thousands of Ukrainian children torn from their land and their families. And yet, for four years Ukraine has held firm and resisted. One day, Russians will grasp the enormity of the crime committed in their name, the hollowness of the pretexts invoked, and the long-term, devastating effects on their own country. While the Kremlin promised to conquer Ukraine in a matter of days, only 1% of Ukrainian territory has been taken since the front stabilized in November 2022. Last month, Ukraine even regained ground. And at what cost for the Russians? More than 1.2 million Russian soldiers have been wounded or killed—the highest number of Russian combat casualties since the Second World War. Faced with these losses, Russia is recruiting individuals on the African continent to send them to fight on the Ukrainian front, often with no prior training whatsoever. This war is a triple failure for Russia: military, economic, and strategic. It has strengthened NATO—the very expansion Russia sought to prevent—galvanized Europeans it hoped to weaken, and laid bare the fragility of an imperialism from another age. Because Ukraine is the first line of defence of our continent, France and Europe stand resolutely by its side. Financial, military, humanitarian, and energy assistance: Europe has already mobilised €170 billion. At the European Council in December, we agreed on a €90 billion loan to provide Ukraine with predictable funding over the next two years. There is no justification for calling this into question. We must now deliver on it. Deliveries of equipment and ammunition, training, strengthened air defences and counter-drone capabilities, and support for the systems already supplied will continue. So that Ukraine can hold—and so that Russia understands that time is not on its side. We will also continue to target Russia’s war economy: we will stay the course on sanctions and press ahead with action against the shadow fleet. Because there can be no peace without security—and because our security is being decided in Ukraine—we will continue our engagement within the Coalition of the Willing. In Paris on 6 January, we built strong convergence with the United States on future security guarantees. Today’s new meeting must allow us to keep moving forward. We will also ensure that Europeans’ interests are properly taken into account in the discussions, including—when the time comes—when it is a question of the security architecture our continent needs. To the women and men of Ukraine: we think of you with deep emotion. Of your families who have endured so much, of your children, of all those who keep resisting under the strikes. To those who believe they can count on our fatigue: they are mistaken. We are, and will remain, by Ukraine’s side. -