KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrault told reporters in Kyiv on Saturday that he pledged support for Ukraine's plan to end its two-and-a-half year war with Russia and urged other countries to He said he would work with Ukrainian officials to ensure safety. ” and supported the proposal.
Kiev's so-called “victory plan”, unveiled by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy earlier this week, hopes to force Russia to end its invasion of Ukraine through negotiations.
The proposal is being considered by Ukraine's Western partners, whose cooperation is essential for Kiev to resist its larger neighbor. A key element is a formal invitation to join NATO, but Western backers are reluctant to consider it until the war is over.
“Russia's victory is a sanctification of the fittest and will lead to chaos in the international order,” Barot said at a joint press conference with Ukraine's Andriy Sibiha. “That is why our exchanges should allow us to advance President Zelenskiy's winning plan and rally as many countries as possible around it.”
Since the 2022 invasion, France has been one of the most enthusiastic supporters of Ukraine's military, diplomatic and economic support in Europe. It is currently training and equipping what will be a completely new brigade of Ukrainian soldiers for deployment to the front lines.
French President Emmanuel Macron has also previously called on Ukraine's Western allies to make policy changes that could change the face of the war, saying that Kiev has advanced long-range capabilities, including French missiles, provided by Western partners. It allows weapons to be used to attack military bases in Russia.
Long-range strikes are a key part of President Zelensky's five-point plan, but so far Kiev's allies have balked.
Barot also announced that France will deliver the first batch of Mirage 2000 fighter jets to Ukraine in the first three months of 2025, and that Ukrainian pilots and mechanics will also be trained in operation and maintenance.
“By resisting the invaders with extraordinary courage, you are not only fighting for Ukraine's territorial integrity, you are also defending the front line that separates Europe from Vladimir Putin's Russia and separates freedom from oppression.” said the French minister. Kyiv.
Barot's visit coincided with a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine late Friday night, which included the exchange of 190 prisoners between the two countries under a deal negotiated by the United Arab Emirates. included being replaced.
The 95 Ukrainians also included 34 Azov fighters who defended Mariupol and the Azovstal Steel Works, a fortress-like factory in the now-occupied city of Mariupol. The fort became a symbol of resistance to Moscow's invasions.
“95 employees have returned home. They are the warriors who defended Mariupol and Azovstal, as well as Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Kiev, Chernihiv and Kherson regions,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X .
Azov Brigade Commander Denis Prokopenko said on Facebook that 34 Azov fighters had returned, but another 900 remained Russian prisoners of war.
Among the 95 people swapped was Maksym Butkevich, a prominent Ukrainian human rights activist and military officer. His release was announced by the ZMINA Human Rights Center, an organization he co-founded.
The exchange follows the repatriation of 501 dead soldiers to Ukraine on Friday, in what is believed to be the largest repatriation of war dead since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Most of the soldiers died in fighting in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region, mainly around the city of Avdiivka, which Russian forces captured in February after long and brutal fighting, Ukraine's Prisoner of War Coordination Center said in a statement.
Russian lawmaker Shamsail Saraliev told reporters that Russia had also accepted the bodies of 89 soldiers.
Elsewhere, Russia's Defense Ministry said it shot down 16 Ukrainian drones over Russia's Bryansk, Rostov and Belgorod regions early Saturday morning.
Local social media channels shared images that appear to show a fire at a factory specializing in microelectronics in the Bryansk region. Russian authorities have not confirmed the airstrike.
