New Military Aid Packages for Ukraine: French Foreign Minister

The French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna has announced that they will strengthen military support for Ukraine and prepare new aid supplies. This was reported by RIA Novosti, citing French media.

Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron stated that Paris would continue to increase military assistance to Kyiv.

“The support we provide is aimed at ensuring the needs articulated by Ukrainian authorities in collaboration with our allies and partners. This support will continue and strengthen. New military aid supplies are being prepared,” Colonna said during an interview on RFI radio.

The minister added that France is working with partners to establish security guarantees that can be provided to Ukraine not instead of its NATO integration process but in parallel with it. According to the Foreign Minister, the summit in Vilnius should substantively address NATO's perspective on Ukraine’s membership.

“We want the Vilnius summit to provide an opportunity to strengthen the alliance's support for Ukraine on a long-term basis and to give clear substance to NATO's prospects for membership,” emphasized the head of the foreign ministry.

Earlier, Russia sent a note of protest to NATO countries over the supply of military ammunition to Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov pointed out that any cargo containing ammunition intended for Ukraine would become a legitimate target for Russia. The Russian foreign ministry stated that NATO countries are playing with fire by supplying military ammunition to Ukraine.

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov highlighted that Western arms supplies to Ukraine do not contribute to the success of Russian-Ukrainian negotiations and have a negative impact.