France to provide Ukraine with new military aid

France is preparing new military aid packages for Ukraine.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of France, Catherine Colonna, announced this in an interview with RFI.

"New supplies of military aid are being prepared to constantly take into account the most urgent needs expressed by Ukraine," the head of the foreign diplomatic service emphasized.

The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs assured that France's support for Ukraine will continue and strengthen.

"France has repeatedly stated that it will support Ukraine as long as it must be able to ensure the legal protection of its independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders. No one should doubt our determination to fulfill this commitment ", the minister emphasized.

Journalists asked Colonna about security guarantees for Ukraine before joining NATO.

In response, the head of the French foreign ministry expressed her desire for the forthcoming Vilnius Summit to contribute meaningfully to consolidating Ukraine's support from the Alliance long-term and realize its prospect of joining NATO.

The minister added that France is working with several partners to define security guarantees that NATO could provide to Ukraine "not instead of, but in parallel" with the process of its integration into the Alliance.

"These guarantees are still being discussed, but their purpose will be obvious: in the short term, to provide Ukraine with the means to ensure its self-defense," Colonna said.

As reported, France will allocate an additional 40 million euros in financial aid to Ukraine for 2023.

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Ukraine clearly understands that it will be able to join the North Atlantic Alliance only after the end of hostilities. However, the state wants to receive a political decision regarding support for accession at the Alliance summit in Vilnius, which will be held on July 11-12.

Moreover, President Zelensky is sure that Ukraine has every reason to receive a political invitation to join the North Atlantic Alliance at the NATO summit in early July.

The Vilnius municipality will join the initiative to support Ukraine's accession to NATO – at least 33,000 Ukrainian flags will be flown in the Lithuanian capital on July 7-11.

In addition, during a joint briefing with President Volodymyr Zelensky, Turkish President Recep Erdogan said that Ukraine deserves to be a member of NATO.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that at the Alliance summit in Vilnius, the leaders would adopt a package regarding Ukraine containing three main elements. At the same time, he did not disclose the content of NATO's future decision regarding Ukraine's membership.

It should be noted that Portugal became the twenty-third country that concluded a similar declaration with Ukraine. The day before, Bulgaria, which Volodymyr Zelensky visited earlier this week, became the 22nd country.