A FRENCH MILITARY BASE, FRANCE, Oct 10, (AP): French President Emmanuel Macron inspected the training of Ukrainian troops at a military camp in eastern France on Wednesday, a show of support a day before President Volodymyr Zelenskyy travels to Paris as part of a European tour meant to encourage support for his victory plan.

It was Macron’s first meeting with some of the 15,000 Ukrainian troops that France has trained since the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022, including several thousand put through training courses in Poland. Zelenskyy is hoping to persuade Ukraine’s allies to adopt a victory plan that he hasn’t publicly presented. Ukraine also hopes that Western partners will agree to its repeated requests to use the long-range weapons they provide to hit targets on Russian soil. Zelenskyy is meeting European leaders this week.

Macron will meet with Zelenskyy on Thursday afternoon at the Elysee presidential palace to "reaffirm France's determination to provide unfailing support for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, over the long term and with all its partners," Macron's office said. The Ukrainian brigade that Macron visited is being battle-readied and armed by France for front-line deployment.

For security reasons, Macron’s office said the base’s specific location could not be reported. French military personnel are teaching the Ukrainian soldiers how to use and maintain French-supplied weapons, and subjecting them to combat-like conditions, with stress, noise and drones. Trenches have been dug using methods and layouts similar to those in Ukraine.

The new force will symbolically be named the "Anne de Kiev brigade,” after a Kyiv princess who became queen of France in 1051 upon marrying King Henry I. Around 1,500 French military personnel are involved in the brigade’s training over several months. The Ukrainian Brigade No. 155 will eventually be made up of 4,500 troops. Of those, 2,300 are being trained in France, forming three battalions of infantry, plus engineers, artillery teams and other specialists. The brigade’s other battalions will be trained by Ukraine.