France, Turkey and Greece will carry out a “humanitarian operation” to evacuate civilians from the besieged city of Mariupol, in southern Ukraine, “in the coming days,” French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Friday.
“We are going to launch a humanitarian operation with Turkey and Greece to evacuate all those who want to leave Mariupol,” Macron said at the end of a European summit in Brussels, adding that he would discuss the matter with Russian President Vladimir Putin. , “within 48 to 72 hours.”
“I hope to be able to involve as many interested parties as possible in this operation,” said the French president, assuring that he will be “in a position” to carry out this evacuation “in the coming days.”
Macron explained that the French presidency had spoken on Friday with the mayor of Mariúpol, “a city of 400,000 inhabitants of which today only 150,000 remain”, experiencing “dramatic situations”, he said.
According to a latest balance communicated by the municipality, more than 2,000 civilians have died. Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski said that there are still 100,000 people blocked in that strategic port on the Sea of Azov besieged by Russian troops.
