France signed a security pact with Ukraine on Friday, pledging more weapons and assistance to help the war-torn nation in its defence against Russia.
“France will support Ukraine in the long term,” said President Emmanuel Macron after signing the agreement with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Élysée Palace in Paris on Friday evening.
This year, Ukraine will receive up to €3 billion ($3,2 billion) in military aid from France, following €1.7 billion in 2022 and €2.1 billion last year, in figures made public by Macron for the first time.
“France is helping us a lot today,” Zelensky said of the agreement, highlighting the delivery of missiles, guns and air defence technology. The security pact is “ambitious and concrete.”
Zelensky had previously concluded a similar agreement with Germany during a stopover in Berlin on Friday. The security agreements stem from a decision made by NATO’s heads of state and prime ministers at their summit in Vilnius, Lithuania in July.
There it was agreed that the individual member states would conclude bilateral agreements in order to guarantee Ukraine’s security in the long term. The United Kingdom was the first to do so, in January and other NATO states are to follow suit.
The agreement signed in Paris assures Ukraine of long-term military and economic aid as well as support for reconstruction following the end of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
It is also a clear signal of joint determination to Moscow that Ukraine will be supported for as long as necessary, according to statements made in Paris.
Ukraine is promising further reforms on its path towards joining the European Union. Macron, for his part, gave more details of his planned trip to Ukraine, which he intends to make by mid-March.
