“Thank you France.” Paris remains one of kyiv’s closest allies, ten months after the start of the war in Ukraine. Traveling to the Ukrainian capital on Wednesday, the French Armed Forces Minister vowed to continue helping the country of Volodymyr Zelensky. An announcement welcomed by the Ukrainian president in his daily speech.
“I met with the French Defense Minister who arrived in Ukraine. We discussed cooperation during the year, the reconstruction of our country and a new stage in strengthening our air defense,” declared the Ukrainian president, before launching: “Thank you, France!”
Earlier in the day, Volodymyr Zelensky had indicated on Telegram that he was “grateful to France for the military assistance already provided to protect the Ukrainian skies and strengthen the capabilities of the defense forces.”
“Redefining a common agenda”
Sébastien Lecornu, during his first trip to Kyiv on Wednesday, said he wanted to work to meet Ukrainian military needs “for the next few weeks.”
“Presidents (Volodymyr) Zelensky and (Emmanuel) Macron have asked (…) that they make proposals for the month of January to redefine a ‘common agenda on French military support,’ he said during a press conference with his counterpart Ukrainian, Oleksiï Reznikov.
Before the press, the French minister mentioned “the innovative fund of 200 million euros” that allows Ukraine to buy equipment directly from French industrialists, in accordance with Ukraine’s priorities in dealing with the Russian army.
In mid-December, an international conference in support of Ukraine, organized in Paris, brought together moreone billion euros in donations to help the population in particular.
Source: BFM TV
