Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday called on French mayors to provide assistance to his country to prevent Russia from using the cold “as a weapon of mass destruction” this winter.
He made the call in a message broadcast at a congress in Paris of the Association of French Mayors (AMF), which was attended by a delegation of Ukrainian elected representatives.
“The Kremlin wants to turn the winter cold into a weapon of mass destruction,” the Ukrainian president said in a subtitled video broadcast during a tribute to Ukraine organised by the AMF at the congress,
“To survive this winter and not allow Russia to turn the cold into a tool of terror and submission, we need a lot of things,” Zelensky said, mentioning in particular “generators of different capacities,” “help with mine clearance (and) equipment for firefighters, rescuers and doctors.”
“I call on you to be very concrete in helping and supporting our cities and communities against terrorism,” he added.
AMF President David Lisnard, a member of the right-wing Les Républicains party who had visited Ukraine in the weeks following the start of the Russian invasion, invited the Ukrainian representatives to his association’s congress to express “our admiration, our solidarity and our support”.
