France and UK may compete in helping Ukraine - international expert

International expert Stanislav Zhelikhovskyi believes that the issue of assistance to Ukraine may create a certain competition between France and the United Kingdom

He expressed this opinion on Espreso TV.

"It should be understood that each country plays its own geopolitical game.The UK and France really want to support our country. However, there may be some competition between these two countries on the issue of assistance to Ukraine. That is why France and the UK have slightly different positions on supporting Ukraine," explained Zhelikhovskyi.

The expert stressed that the main purpose of Xi Jinping's visit to France is to improve economic ties.

"As for China, it is very important for Xi Jinping to restore economic and trade relations with the EU. It is very important for China. They need to improve the economic situation in the country. Accordingly, Xi Jinping's visit to France is aimed at discussing economic cooperation. However, we hope that the meeting with Xi Jinping will also focus on supporting the Ukrainian peace formula," he added.

• On February 26, French President Emmanuel Macron said that the deployment of Western ground troops to fight Russian aggression should not be ruled out in the future.
• On February 29, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said that Western leaders should not rule out the possibility of sending NATO troops to Ukraine.
• Czech President Petr Pavel said that support for Ukraine by NATO troops directly on its territory would not violate any international norms.
• At the same time, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said that his country did not want to be a party to the war and would not deploy troops in Ukraine.
• On May 2, the President of France told The Economist in an interview that he did not rule out sending ground troops to Ukraine and described the conditions under which this could happen.
• On May 3, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said that the possible deployment of NATO troops to Ukraine could lead to an escalation of the conflict.