For his very first official trip, Stéphane Séjourné, the new French Minister of Foreign Affairs, went to Ukraine.
A symbol: the new French Minister of Foreign Affairs was in Kyiv this Saturday to meet his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba on Saturday in a sign of support for Ukraine as Russia’s large-scale invasion approaches its third anniversary.
“Ukraine is and will remain France’s priority.”declared Stéphane Séjourné during a press conference. “The defense of the fundamental principles of international law is at stake in Ukraine.”
The French minister reiterated France’s commitments to support Ukraine “as long as necessary” but did not announce new arms deliveries.
“Russia hopes that Ukraine and its supporters will tire before it does. We will not weaken. This is the message I convey here to the Ukrainians. Our determination is intact“, underlined Stéphane Séjourné.
France has moved away from its initial post-invasion policy of supplying Ukraine with complete weapons systems from its own stockpiles. Paris is now championing a more sustainable effort to help its own arms manufacturers – both at home and in Ukraine – increase production so they can meet long-term weapons needs.
Stéphane Séjourné also said that a French defense fund intended to enable Ukraine to purchase weapons also received new financing in recent weeks, but he did not specify the amount.
France is also working to overcome Hungary’s objections to providing Ukraine with EU financial aid, needed to finance essential public services and reconstruction. The minister said France would use “all its weight” to try to unblock the EU aid program during an upcoming summit in early February.
The Ukrainian minister thanked his counterpart for not having been dissuaded from his visit by “another massive Russian strike”.
He also emphasized that many Western-made components had been discovered in Russian missiles used to attack Ukraine.
“According to a recent report by the Kyiv School of Economics and Yermak McFaul’s group, 44% of all electronic components in Russian weapons are developed by Western companies,” he said, calling on the G7 and the European Union to “take decisive action” aiming to block the supply of goods containing these components to Russia.
This trip comes the day after the British Prime Minister’s visit to Kyiv.