In Kyiv, new French foreign minister assures that Ukraine remains a priority for France – Technologist

France’s new foreign minister has made his first visit to a foreign country, traveling to Kyiv on Saturday, January 13, to reaffirm his nation’s support for Ukraine. Appointed to replace Catherine Colonna, 38-year-old Stéphane Séjourné arrived at the Ukrainian capital’s central train station in the morning for a day of meetings with officials, including Volodymyr Zelensky. The Ukrainian President said on Telegram that he had discussed Ukrainian defense needs with France’s foreign minister: “joint production of drones, artillery and further strengthening of air defense.”

The purpose of the trip was to reiterate Paris’s “enduring support” for the war-torn country. “Ukraine is and will remain France’s priority,” “despite the multiplying crises,” said the foreign minister. “Russia hopes Ukraine and its supporters will get tired before [it does]. (…) We will not falter… our determination remains intact,” he added.

After his welcome in the icy, snow-covered capital, Séjourné paid tribute to soldiers killed since the start of the war, in Kyiv’s St. Michael’s Square, where the portraits of fallen soldiers are on display. The new minister also met with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, as well as Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olga Stefanichyna.

International support called into question

The visit took place as Kyiv prepared to enter the third year of war on February 24, and the situation in Ukraine has never been more worrisome. Séjourné arrived a few hours after the end of a Russian nighttime attack. According to the Ukrainian Air Force, eight of the 40 drones and missiles that were launched were destroyed by anti-aircraft defenses, while “more than 20 missiles” failed to reach their target, having been diverted by “electronic countermeasures.” Russian forces have been stepping up their bombardments since the end of December 2023, sending waves of kamikaze drones followed by dozens of missiles.

On Wednesday, during a visit to Lithuania, Zelensky lamented that Ukraine “lack[ed] modern air defense systems badly.” Faced with these intensifying attacks, Ukrainians have been concerned about running out of the ammunition needed to continue protecting their cities. As for Friday night’s attack, the Russian army declared that it had struck the country’s weapons factories and it claimed to have hit “all” its targets.

Conditions on the front line have been deteriorating, with soldiers now adopting defensive postures, yet the international support crucial to the country’s survival has never been as uncertain. A divided US Congress, hindered by reluctant Republican lawmakers, failed to approve a $61 billion aid package. And, while the December meeting of the European Council managed to open negotiations for Ukraine’s accession to the European Union, the fate of a €50 billion aid package remains in limbo for the time being. At the end of his meeting with Ukrainian counterpart Kuleba, Séjourné declared that France would use “all of its weight” to ensure that Ukraine obtained this budgetary resource at the next European summit in early February.

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