Approximately 70 nations and international organizations met in Paris for a meeting with the goal of helping Ukrainians "to get through this winter" according to French President Emmanuel Macron.
In response to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's appeals for assistance, Ukraine's Western partners committed an additional €1 billion ($1.1 billion) on Tuesday, Dec.13. This aid will enable the nation to weather Russia's assault on its electrical grid. Zelenskyy stated in a video message that Ukraine needed aid in the amount of 800 million euros in the near future for its battered energy sector.
Catherine Colonna, France's foreign minister said, pledges for the energy sector made up €400 million of the money raised on Tuesday. According to Zelenskyy, Ukraine needs high-capacity generators, additional gas, spare parts for repairs, and greater electrical imports.
"Generators have become as necessary as armored vehicles and bullet-proof jackets," Zelenskyy said.
According to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal, the strikes by Russia have rendered 40 to 50 percent of the nation's grid inoperable. Only a few hours a day, power is available in many parts of the nation. After Russian drone attacks over the weekend, an additional 1.5 million people in southern Odessa were left without electricity.
A new Paris Mechanism to coordinate humanitarian help to Ukraine was also unveiled at the conference "Standing with the Ukraine People" held in Paris on Tuesday. With the help of the online platform, which the G7 leaders unveiled on Monday, Ukraine would be able to specify its needs and have access to real-time coordination from international donors.
The conference on Tuesday was co-hosted by Macron and Olena Zelenskyy, providing the French president a chance to reiterate his support for Kyiv. In the past, most notably in June when he warned "we must not humiliate Russia", he has enraged some of his allies in Kyiv. On December 3, he also demanded that Russia be given "security guarantees" at the end of the conflict, which drew ire from several officials in Ukraine and eastern Europe.
Despite the likelihood of a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, some argue that the main objective should still be militarily repelling Russian forces. Macron denounced Russia's "cynical" and "cowardly" strikes on the infrastructure used by Ukrainian civilians.
"These strikes ... which Russia openly admits are designed to break the resistance of the Ukrainian people, are war crimes," in his opening address he said.
"They violate without any doubt the most basic principles of humanitarian law. These acts are intolerable and will not go unpunished."
Vladimir Putin will not hold his customary year-end press conference this year. The dinner, which Putin has hosted nearly every year since he came to office in 2000, was canceled for no apparent reason, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
