After Kyiv, his first visit abroad a day after his appointment, Stéphane Séjourné is due to head to Warsaw and Berlin, saying he attached particular importance to the so-called Weimar triangle, an informal forum of discussion between France, Poland and Germany.
Séjourné is set to visit Warsaw on Monday for discussions with his Polish counterpart Radosław Sikorski, the country's PAP news agency said on Sunday.
The pair will discuss additional ways to support Ukraine in its struggle against Russia before an extraordinary European Council summit scheduled for February 1 to address an emergency financial aid plan for Ukraine, it added.
The French top diplomat is currently in Germany, PAP informed.
Kyiv is seeking to maintain flows of military and financial aid from its Western allies after nearly two years of fighting a full-scale Russian invasion.
In a press conference alongside Séjourné, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba praised the minister's "important" visit immediately after his appointment, and mere hours after Russia launched 40 missiles and drones at Ukraine.
"I am grateful to you for your courage, for the fact that you did not turn around on the way," Kuleba said.
He added that they had "discussed the further supply of military assistance to Ukraine, Kuleba said.
“It is significant that minister Séjourné made his inaugural visit to Ukraine, literally on the second day after nomination. Incidentally, this marks the first time in the history of French diplomacy since World War II that a Foreign Minister has chosen Ukraine for their initial visit," he added.
Kuleba expressed his gratitude to France for its comprehensive support to Ukraine, especially for strengthening its air defense, adding that the two discussed further deliveries of systems and missiles to protect Ukrainian airspace as well as drone deliveries to Ukraine.
The French top diplomat said that he would work in the coming days and weeks to fix EU and bilateral legal issues to help French companies set up more military production facilities in Ukraine, without specifying what these legal issues were.
Séjourné's visit came a day after British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was in Kyiv to sign a new security agreement and announce an increase in military funding for Ukraine to buy drones, including surveillance, long-range strike and sea drones.
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Source: PAP, Reuters
