French President Emmanuel Macron has said France will provide Ukraine with its Mirage combat aircraft to be able to defend their country against Russian aggression.

Mr Macron told a French public broadcaster he will announce on Friday a new co-operation with Ukraine and the sale of Mirage 2005, the French-made combat aircraft which will “allow Ukraine to protect its soil, its airspace” against Russian attacks.

France will also start training Ukrainian pilots, Mr Macron said and reiterated that Ukraine should be allowed to use weapons provided by its Western allies to target Russian military targets and “neutralise the points from which (the country) is being attacked”.

Mr Macron spoke after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky joined world leaders in France on Thursday to commemorate the D-Day invasion and seek more Western help even as his forces battled to stave off a Russian onslaught near the eastern city of Kharkiv in Europe’s biggest conflict since the Second World War.

Mr Zelensky and his wife Olena attended the 80th anniversary events in Normandy with US President Joe Biden and European leaders who have supported Kyiv’s efforts in the war, now in its third year.

He will meet French officials in Paris on Friday.