Current:Home > StocksFrench Foreign Minister visits Kyiv and pledges solidarity as Russia launches attacks-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
French Foreign Minister visits Kyiv and pledges solidarity as Russia launches attacks
View Date:2024-12-23 15:50:52
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — France’s new Foreign Minister arrived in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, to meet Saturday with his counterpart in a sign of support for Ukraine as Russia’s full-scale invasion nears its second anniversary.
Stéphane Séjourné noted that Ukraine was his first destination abroad since his nomination in a government reshuffle this week.
“Ukraine is and will remain France’s priority,” Séjourné said at a press conference. “The defense of the fundamental principles of international law is being played out in Ukraine.”
The minister, in a joint press conference alongside Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, reiterated his government’s pledges of support for Ukraine “as long as necessary” but did not announce new weapon deliveries.
“Russia is hoping that Ukraine and its supporters will tire before it does. We will not weaken. That is the message that I am carrying here to the Ukrainians. Our determination is intact,” Séjourné said.
The ministers took no questions.
France has been switching away from its initial post-invasion policy of providing complete weapons systems to Ukraine from its own stocks. It is increasingly pursuing what the government describes as a more sustainable effort to help defense manufacturers — both at home and in Ukraine – ramp up production so they can supply the embattled country’s long-term armament needs.
Séjourné said that a French defense fund to enable Ukraine to buy armaments also got fresh funding in recent weeks but he did not specify the amount.
France is also working to overcome objections from Hungary to supply EU financial aid to Ukraine, needed to fund essential public services and reconstruction. Séjourné said France would use “all of its weight” to try to unblock the EU aid package at an upcoming summit in early February.
Kuleba thanked Séjourné for not being deterred from visiting by “another massive Russian strike.”
He also highlighted that many Western-made components were found 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 Russia’s weapons are developed by Western companies,” he said, calling on the Group of Seven and the European Union to “take decisive measures to block the supply of goods containing these components to Russia.”
Séjourné ’s visit came a day after British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak unveiled Friday new military funding for Ukraine, announcing a security pact with Kyiv and 2.5 billion pounds (about $3.2 billion) for its war effort over the next fiscal year.
Also on Saturday, the Ukrainian Air Force said its defense system downed eight of the 37 missiles fired by Russia. Three drones were also launched. The air force said via its Telegram channel that 20 of the total attacks were prevented from reaching their target “by means of electronic warfare.”
Both Ukraine and Russia make use of electronic warfare technology aimed at jamming and diverting enemy drones and guided missiles.
Also, in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region, a resident was wounded as a result of a morning rocket attack, the regional prosecutor’s office said.
___
Associated Press writer John Leicester contributed from Paris.
veryGood! (817)
Related
- Record-setting dry conditions threaten more US wildfires, drinking water supplies
- Opponents of Nebraska plan to use public money for private school tuition seek ballot initiative
- Travis Scott announces Utopia-Circus Maximus Tour: These are the 28 tour dates
- UNC-Chapel Hill faculty member killed, suspect in custody after campus lockdown
- Bodyless head washes ashore on a South Florida beach
- 500 flights cancelled as U.K.'s air traffic control system hit by nightmare scenario
- Abortion rights backers sue Ohio officials for adding unborn child to ballot language and other changes
- Florida power outage map: See where the power is out as Hurricane Idalia makes landfall
- Chiefs block last-second field goal to save unbeaten record, beat Broncos
- Court rejects Connecticut officials’ bid to keep secret a police report on hospital patient’s death
Ranking
- Georgia's humbling loss to Mississippi leads college football winners and losers for Week 11
- Bomb threat at Target in New Berlin was a hoax, authorities say
- Cops find over 30 dead dogs in New Jersey home; pair charged with animal cruelty, child endangerment
- NFL roster cuts 2023: All of the notable moves leading up to Tuesday's deadline
- New Mexico secretary of state says she’s experiencing harassment after the election
- Millions more workers would be entitled to overtime pay under a proposed Biden administration rule
- Robert Downey Jr. Proves He Has Ironclad Bond With Wife Susan on 18th Anniversary
- An Alaska district aligns its school year with traditional subsistence harvests
Recommendation
-
Michael Jordan and driver Tyler Reddick come up short in bid for NASCAR championship
-
Breaking impasse, Tennessee lawmakers adjourn tumultuous session spurred by school shooting
-
Should you stand or sit at a concert? Adele fan ignites debate
-
A judge told Kansas authorities to destroy electronic copies of newspaper’s files taken during raid
-
One person is dead after a shooting at Tuskegee University
-
Why Miley Cyrus Says Her and Liam Hemsworth’s Former Malibu Home Had “So Much Magic to It”
-
‘Like Snoop Dogg’s living room': Smell of pot wafts over notorious U.S. Open court
-
18 years after Katrina levee breaches, group wants future engineers to learn from past mistakes