France and Ukraine will sign a bilateral agreement on security commitments in the near future. French Foreign Minister Stéphane Sejourne assures of this , UNN reports.
The bilateral agreement is under discussion and is likely to be signed soon between President Emmanuel Macron and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
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French President Emmanuel Macron was expected to sign a security agreement in Ukraine this month, but he postponed his trip to Kyiv for security reasons.
The French agreement will outline a framework for long-term humanitarian and financial assistance, reconstruction support, and military aid. According to two diplomats with knowledge of the negotiations, after the signing, France will announce €200 million for civilian projects in Ukraine to be implemented by French companies.
However, according to diplomats, this agreement will not cover financial commitments for arms supplies to Ukraine. This is because in order to agree on defense funding, Paris must first obtain parliamentary approval of such funding.
Macron is likely to make public statements on military aid separately. He has already said that Paris will send regular supplies of air-to-ground missiles and 40 additional long-range cruise missiles.
In the coming days, we will provide figures and give you transparency on military and civilian aid.
He did not specify whether he was referring to assistance under the agreement or to France's general support for Ukraine.
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France has faced criticism from some allies for its reluctance to publicize its military commitments to Ukraine. The media, referring to the data of the Kiel Institute report, emphasized that France was ranked 12th in the ranking of countries providing military and civilian assistance to Ukraine. In particular, the report mentioned a figure of 1.7 billion euros transferred to Ukraine.
French officials dismissed these figures as untrue. They noted that the quality of the weapons from France was crucial to Kyiv's military efforts.