KYIV, Ukraine: France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Monday emphasized France’s support to Ukraine in a surprise visit, over three years into Russia’s invasion.
Barrot met his counterpart Andriy Sybiga, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and newly nominated Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko.
He arrived in Kyiv just hours after a fresh Russian barrage on the Ukrainian capital, the latest in a record number of drone and missile attacks Russia has recently fired on Ukrainian cities.
“It is by putting pressure on Russia on the one hand, and providing resolute support to Ukraine on the other, that we will succeed in ending this cowardly and disgraceful war,” Barrot said.
He was speaking at a press conference shortly after visiting the Chernobyl power plant, the site of the world’s worst nuclear accident, which sent clouds of radiation across much of Europe in 1986.
In February, Ukraine accused Russia of using an explosive drone to damage the confinement arch protecting the structure — prompting France to pledge 10 million euros ($11.7 million) to help fix the cover.
Accompanied by a small group of journalists including AFP, Barrot inspected the structure, where the hole in the arch was still clearly visible.
Barrot briefly got stuck in the elevator on his way out of the building with some of his team — though the group managed to operate the elevator manually, and emerged unharmed.
Back from Chernobyl, Barrot said Russia “targets energy infrastructure in defiance of international law, security and nuclear safety.”
He also blasted the latest wave of Russian attacks, which killed two people and damaged an entryway to the capital’s Lukyanivka metro station, which he visited earlier.
“This inhumane, cynical and cruel violence has no military purpose,” Barrot said. “Its sole aim is to terrorize civilians in a failed attempt to undermine Ukrainian morale.”
French foreign minister in Kyiv for show of support
https://arab.news/jr9ry
French foreign minister in Kyiv for show of support
- Jean-Noel Barrot met his counterpart Andriy Sybiga, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and newly nominated Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko
- Barrot: ‘It is by putting pressure on Russia on the one hand, and providing resolute support to Ukraine on the other, that we will succeed in ending this cowardly and disgraceful war’
‘Keep dreaming’: NATO chief says Europe can’t defend itself without US
BRUSSELS: NATO chief Mark Rutte warned Monday Europe cannot defend itself without the United States, in the face of calls for the continent to stand on its own feet after tensions over Greenland.
US President Donald Trump roiled the transatlantic alliance by threatening to seize the autonomous Danish territory — before backing off after talks with Rutte last week.
The diplomatic crisis sparked gave fresh momentum to those advocating for Europe to take a tougher line against Trump and break its military reliance on Washington.
“If anyone thinks here again, that the European Union, or Europe as a whole, can defend itself without the US — keep on dreaming. You can’t,” Rutte told lawmakers at the European Parliament.
He said that EU countries would have to double defense spending from the five percent NATO target agreed last year to 10 percent and spend “billions and billions” on building nuclear arms.
“You would lose the ultimate guarantor of our freedom, which is the US nuclear umbrella,” Rutte said. “So hey, good luck.”
The former Dutch prime minister insisted that US commitment to NATO’s Article Five mutual defense clause remained “total,” but that the United States expected European countries to keep spending more on their militaries.
“They need a secure Euro-Atlantic, and they also need a secure Europe. So the US has every interest in NATO,” he said.
The NATO head reiterated his repeated praise for Trump for pressuring reluctant European allies to step up defense spending.
He also appeared to knock back a suggestion floated by the EU’s defense commissioner Andrius Kubilius earlier this month for a possible European defense force that could replace US troops on the continent.
“It will make things more complicated. I think Putin will love it. So think again,” Rutte said.
On Greenland, Rutte said he had agreed with Trump that NATO would “take more responsibility for the defense of the Arctic,” but it was up to Greenlandic and Danish authorities to negotiate over US presence on the island.
“I have no mandate to negotiate on behalf of Denmark, so I didn’t, and I will not,” he said.
Rutte reiterated that he had stressed to Trump the cost paid by NATO allies in Afghanistan after the US leader caused outrage by playing down their contribution.
“For every two American soldiers who paid the ultimate price, one soldier of an ally or a partner, a NATO ally or a partner country, did not return home,” he said.
“I know that America greatly appreciates all the efforts.”
