French defense minister arrives in Kyiv to boost support

Kyiv, The Gulf Observer: French defense minister arrived in Kyiv on Wednesday to discuss further military support for Ukraine, insisting the French government’s backing is unflagging while efforts are made to reach an eventual negotiated end to Russia’s invasion.

French Minister for the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu traveled to Ukraine’s capital after a trip to Poland, where he announced a deal Tuesday to sell Poland two French-made military satellites.

In Kyiv, Lecornu laid a wreath at a heroes’ monument to pay homage to Ukrainians who have died defending their country against Russia’s invasion. He was scheduled to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov and army officials.

While France has been less vocal about its military support for Ukraine than the United States and Britain, the country has sent a steady supply of weapons to Ukraine since Russia invaded on Feb. 24.

France also hosted two aid conferences for Ukraine this month. But many in Ukraine remain critical of the French government’s response to the war because of President Emmanuel Macron’s efforts to maintain contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin and seek a negotiated solution.

“Our support for Ukraine has been constant,” Lecornu tweeted ahead of his trip.

It was not immediately clear what concrete deals Lecornu’s talks in Kyiv might produce. He came to Ukraine a week after Zelenskyy visited the U.S., Ukraine’s chief ally, and with the fighting focused mostly in the country’s east but neither Moscow nor Kyiv reporting major gains in recent weeks.

Russian forces have pressed their offensive to capture all of eastern Ukraine by concentrating on Bakhmut, a city in Donetsk province. Ukrainian forces were pushing a counteroffensive toward Kreminna, a city in neighboring Luhansk province, in hopes of reclaiming the area and potentially dividing Russia’d troops in the east.

France has supplied Ukraine with a substantial chunk of its arsenal of Caesar cannons, as well as anti-tank missiles, Crotale air defense missile batteries and rocket launchers. It is also training some 2,000 Ukrainian troops on French soil. Macron pledged last week to provide a new injection of weapons in early 2023.

Ukraine’s foreign minister told media this week that his government would like to see a peace conference by the end of February. Ukraine has said in the past that it wouldn’t negotiate with Russia before the full withdrawal of its troops, while Moscow insists its military gains and the 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula cannot be ignored.