France’s foreign minister pledged his support for Ukraine’s plan to end the war with Russia, telling reporters in Kyiv that he would work with Ukrainian officials to secure other nations’ backing for the proposal.
Unveiled by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier this week, Kyiv’s “victory plan” hopes to compel Russia to end its invasion of Ukraine through negotiations.
The proposal is being considered by Ukraine’s Western partners, whose help is vital for Kyiv to resist its bigger neighbour.
A key element would be a formal invitation to Nato, which Western backers have been reluctant to consider until after the war ends.
At a joint news conference with Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said: “A Russian victory would be a consecration for the law of the strongest and would push the international order toward chaos. That is why our exchanges should allow us to make progress on President Zelensky’s victory plan and rally the greatest number possible of countries around it.”
Since Russia launched a full-scale invasion on February 24 2022, France has been one of Ukraine’s staunchest military, diplomatic and economic supporters in Europe, and is training and equipping what will become a full new brigade of Ukrainian soldiers for front-line deployment.
Mr Zelensky said that he expects that the brigade would be in Ukraine by the end of November.
“Brigade training is going ahead of schedule,” he said.
French President Emmanuel Macron has also previously pushed for a policy shift from Ukraine’s Western allies that could change the complexion of the war — allowing Kyiv to strike military bases inside Russia with sophisticated long-range weapons provided by Western partners, which include missiles from France.
Mr Barrot also announced that France would deliver the first batch of Mirage 2000 combat jets to Ukraine in the first three months of 2025, with Ukrainian pilots and mechanics also trained to fly and maintain them.
“By resisting against the invader with exceptional courage, you are not only fighting for Ukraine’s territorial integrity, but you are also holding a front line that separates Europe from Vladimir Putin’s Russia, that separates freedom from oppression,” the French minister said in Kyiv.
Mr Barrot’s visit coincided with a prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine late on Friday, which included 190 prisoners of war traded by the two sides under a deal negotiated by the United Arab Emirates.
“Ninety-five of our people are home again. These are the warriors who defended Mariupol and ‘Azovstal,’ as well as the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Kherson regions,” Mr Zelensky posted on X.
95 of our people are home again. These are the warriors who defended Mariupol and "Azovstal," as well as the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Kherson regions.
Each time Ukraine rescues its people from Russian captivity, we bring closer the day when freedom will be… pic.twitter.com/kuJsGbja8T
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 18, 2024
Elsewhere, the Russian Defense said that it shot down 16 Ukrainian drones over its Bryansk, Rostov and Belgorod regions on Saturday.
Local social media channels shared images that appeared to show a blaze at a microelectronics factory in the Bryansk region. Russian authorities did not confirm the strike.
More than 100 Russian drones and missiles were also launched over Ukraine overnight, with 98 drones and six guided air missiles sighted over the country, the Ukrainian Air Force said.
It said that it had shot down 42 of the drones and 46 more had disappeared from radar. Four missiles were also shot down, officials said, though they did not specify the fate of the remaining drones or missiles.
