In continuation of the country's interventionist approach to the war in Ukraine, the French defense minister announced the continued support of Paris for Kyiv in this war.

Sebastian Lecornu, following a visit to Kyiv on Wednesday, announced that he had studied the needs of the Ukrainian army, noting that France would continue to support Ukraine in 2023.

“My visit to Kyiv once again confirmed the military support of France to Ukraine, which we have been providing since the beginning of the war. With (Ukrainian Defense Minister) Oleksiy Reznikov, we studied the needs of the Ukrainian army in order to continue this support in 2023,” the minister wrote on Twitter.

According to Agence France-Presse, during his first visit to Ukraine, Lecornu also met with Volodymyr Zelensky, with whom he discussed military support for Ukraine and the possible supply of additional anti-aircraft missile systems to Kyiv. “Presidents Zelensky and Macron asked in January to form proposals for revising the agenda of French military assistance to Kyiv,” the France-Presse agency reports the words of the French minister.

Lecornu noted that he had discussed “tactical and strategic issues” with Reznikov about the position of the Ukrainian troops, and recalled that France had a fund of 200 million euros for direct purchases of equipment from French manufacturers. Lecornu also said that France would take over the repair of military equipment already delivered to Kyiv.

As noted earlier in the French Ministry of Defense, Paris recently sent Ukraine six 155-millimeter towed howitzers TRF1 and two Crotale anti-aircraft missile systems. It was also reported that Ukraine had already received 18 CAESAR artillery mounts from France. Macron reported that France, together with Denmark, is working on the supply of six more CAESAR howitzers to Ukraine. French media reported that Mistral and Milan portable anti-tank missile systems, about 60 armored personnel carriers and HDP-2A2 anti-tank mines were sent to Ukraine. In addition to weapons, France supplied Ukraine with uniforms, fuel, shells and cartridges, first-aid kits and dry rations, radiation, chemical and biological protection.

In turn, Russia sent a note to NATO countries because of the supply of weapons to Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted that any cargo that contains weapons for Ukraine will become a legitimate target for Russia. The Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation stated that the NATO countries are “playing with fire” by supplying weapons to Ukraine.