French President Emmanuel Macron vowed Tuesday that the EU's support for Ukraine as it struggles against Russia's invasion would continue "for the long term".
In a video address to the Crimea Platform conference in Kyiv, given six months after the conflict erupted, Macron said: "Our determination has not changed and we are ready to maintain this effort ...
"This destabilisation of the international order and the disruptions that have followed on the humanitarian level, in terms of energy and food, are the consequences of the choice made by Russia and Russia alone to attack Ukraine on 24 February.
"Against this there can be no weakness, no spirit of compromise, because it's a matter of our freedom, for everyone, and of peace everywhere around the world."
Allies wary
Ukraine's Western allies have supplied Kyiv with billions of dollars worth of military equipment and other aid that staved off a quick defeat.
But they are wary of joining the fight directly against the Russian forces that now occupy large parts of Ukraine's east and south.
Meanwhile American citizens still in Ukraine have been urged to leave the country immediately by the US Embassy in Kyiv.
The US State Department issued a security alert on Monday warning that Russia is stepping up efforts to launch strikes against civilian and government targets in Ukraine in the coming days.
"The US Embassy urges US citizens to depart Ukraine now using privately available ground transportation options if it is safe to do so," a security alert on the embassy's website said.
