More weapons, military-technical cooperation projects, and training of the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: Rustem Umerov and Sébastien Lecornu discussed further cooperation in the defence sector

Weapons and military equipment supply, bilateral projects on military-technical cooperation, training of Ukrainian military service members, and implementation of Euro-Atlantic standards. These and other matters were discussed during a meeting in Kyiv by the Minister of Defence of Ukraine, Rustem Umerov, and the Minister of the Armed Forces of the French Republic, Sébastien Lecornu.

Rustem Umerov thanked the French partners for the comprehensive support of Ukraine since the first day of the large-scale invasion of the russian federation and for the tangible contribution to the strengthening of the Defence Forces of Ukraine.

"I want to thank the Minister, the President, the Government and the people of the French Republic for their unwavering support to Ukraine in providing a powerful package of military and humanitarian aid, as well as for the protection of Ukrainians who were forced to leave Ukraine escaping russian bombardment and inhumane tortures. France has already provided Ukraine with modern SAMP/T and Crotale air defence systems, CAESAR artillery systems, Milan anti-tank weapons, AMX tanks, VAB armoured personnel carriers and much more. This aid definitely brings our victory closer," Rustem Umerov noted.

The head of the Ukrainian Defence Ministry informed the foreign delegation about the current security situation in Ukraine and the urgent needs of the Defence Forces of Ukraine to strengthen the defence capabilities of our country, in particular thanks to the help of the French Republic.

For his part, the Minister of the Armed Forces of the French Republic, Sébastien Lecornu, emphasised the further support of Ukraine and our defenders in the struggle for independence and territorial integrity.

"The French Republic is helping and will be helping Ukraine as long as it is needed. The most important thing for us is to be efficient in our help. We have always insisted on what we do rather than what we say. And we will continue being an efficient and reliable partner. I also want to assure you of our belief that Ukraine will prevail in this struggle," said Sébastien Lecornu.

The Minister of the Armed Forces of the French Republic emphasised the importance of continued help to Ukraine by partner countries in the long term. He focused on three important areas: weapons and military equipment delivery, training of Ukrainian military service members, and joint manufacture in the defence sector.

"The first thing is the transfer of weapons. We will continue transferring weapons to Ukraine. The second part of our support is the training of soldiers. We fulfilled our goals set for the end of the year. More than seven thousand Ukrainian soldiers were trained by France (on French territory or in Poland). It was either some general trainings or specialised programs. I would like to inform you that the training will continue to the same extent. The third area is more strategic and relates to our ability of joint manufacture for Ukraine's needs. Now we are approaching such a novel phase in the relations between our two countries, where we are jointly looking at what we can jointly produce or jointly buy", - remarked Sébastien Lecornu.

During the visit of the Minister of the Armed Forces of the French Republic to Ukraine, a Memorandum of Intent on cooperation was signed between the State Enterprise of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine "Defence Procurement Agency" and the Directorate General for Armaments (DGA) of France. The document provides for the perpetual cooperation and creates a legal framework for concluding contracts. This will also contribute to the deepening of military-technical cooperation, including the development of joint high-tech projects in the interests of ensuring the defence of both countries.