Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is on his fourth visit to France since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
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00:00 This Friday marks the fourth state visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Paris
00:05 since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
00:10 Now after a military welcome at the Hotel des Invalides that you see right behind me,
00:16 Volodymyr Zelensky is set to give a speech at the French National Assembly,
00:20 that's the lower house of the parliament. He will then visit a Franco-German defense
00:26 company that provides artillery guns to Ukraine. And finally, both heads of state are set to sign
00:33 two agreements involving 650 million euros in loans and grants to Ukraine,
00:39 especially to help rebuild the transport and energy sector which have been heavily targeted
00:44 by Moscow. But the big question today is, will French President Emmanuel Macron announce that
00:49 he will be sending French instructors to train Ukrainian soldiers in their home country?
00:56 If that announcement is confirmed later today, well then this sends a new and stronger message
01:02 of commitment to Ukraine. But the Kremlin has already said that it will not hesitate
01:08 to target areas even if foreign personnel is present. Another big issue with today's state
01:15 visit is that it clashes with the timeline of the EU elections. The vote is supposed to be held
01:21 this Sunday in France. And some opposition candidates have accused Emmanuel Macron of
01:26 using the state visit as a tool to gain more votes for his party, Renaissance,
01:31 currently headed by Valérie Ayé, and that is lagging by more than 15 points
01:37 behind the French far right. Sofia Katsenkova for Euronews, reporting from Paris.
01:42 [WHOOSH]