Zelensky to discuss new ways of strengthening Ukraine's defenses with Macron.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said at the press conference in Tirana on Feb.

28 that he wants to discuss new ways of strengthening Ukraine's defenses with French President Emmanuel Macron. At the meeting with the Western officials on Feb.

26, Macron highlighted the imperative to bolster security measures to preempt any future Russian assaults on other countries amid concerns about the Baltics, Poland, and Georgia being targeted next. The French president also said that sending Western troops on the ground in Ukraine is not "ruled out" in the future.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, along with the leaders of Germany, the U.K., and other European NATO member states, have rejected deploying their troops to Ukraine in response to Macron's suggestion. Zelensky did not attend the Ukrainian allies' meeting on Feb.

26 in Paris, where the issue of potential involvement of Western troops in Ukraine was brought up. The Ukrainian president expects to meet Macron in Kyiv in mid-March to discuss Ukraine's defense further.

"He (Macron) said he would talk about new ideas on strengthening Ukraine, and he said that he would share information with me when he would come to Ukraine," Zelensky added.

Macron to sign security agreement in Kyiv

French President Emmanuel Macron on Jan.

16 said he will sign a bilateral military agreement next month while in Kyiv, Politico reported.