The Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal and the new Minister of Foreign Affairs of France Stephane Séjournay discussed defense cooperation and reconstruction projects of Ukraine at the talks in Kyiv.
This is reported by the government portal.
"We are grateful for all-round support, primarily military. France is among the countries that most actively help in this direction. Our priorities for cooperation here are: providing air defense systems and increasing the supply of missiles," the prime minister said.
Shmyhal noted the importance of financial assistance. He expressed hope for Franceʼs further support of financial initiatives at the level of the European Union and invited French companies to be more actively involved in recovery projects. He also invited French demining operators to clear agricultural land of mines and ammunition.
Sejourne, for his part, assured that France will support Ukraine on its way to the EU and NATO and in the fight against the Russian aggressor. He declared Franceʼs readiness to jointly strengthen Ukraineʼs ability to manufacture weapons systems on Ukrainian territory. France will continue to make efforts to improve the legal and organizational framework in the defense industry.
- The visit to Kyiv on January 13 was Sejourneʼs first. Together with his colleague Dmytro Kuleba, he honored the memory of the dead at the Memorial Wall on Mykhailivska Square in the capital, laying flowers there. Sejourne and Kuleba then discussed the further supply of drones, systems and missiles to protect Ukrainian skies and touched on bilateral defense cooperation.