French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot warned in Kyiv on Saturday that if Russia defeats Ukraine on the battlefield it would sow “chaos” in the international system.
His visit, underlining Paris’s unflinching support for Ukraine, comes at the end of a week in which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky unveiled his “victory plan” to defeat Russia and called for beefed-up Western backing.
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Speaking alongside Ukrainian counterpart Andriy Sybiha, Barrot said: “A Russian victory would consecrate the law of the strongest and precipitate the international order towards chaos.”
Referring to a different proposal outlined by Zelensky which details Kyiv’s principles for a just and lasting peace, Barrot added: “Our exchanges … must enable us to advance President Zelensky’s peace plan.”
Sybiha thanked Paris for its support for Ukraine, including the training of Ukrainian troops, and said the two countries had formed a “special partnership.”
He also warned the involvement of North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia carried a “huge threat of further escalation” and risked the war “going beyond the current borders and boundaries.”
Seoul’s spy agency said Friday that North Korea had decided to send “large-scale” troops to support Moscow’s war in Ukraine, reporting that 1,500 special forces were already in Russia’s Far East and undergoing training.
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US President Joe Biden and the leaders of Germany, France and Britain on Friday voiced their “resolve to continue supporting Ukraine in its efforts to secure a just and lasting peace.”
Zelensky was in Paris earlier this month as part of a whirlwind diplomatic tour of Kyiv’s key allies.
He has yet to gain backing on the specific proposals of his “victory plan,” whose central plea – for an immediate invitation to join NATO – is widely viewed as unrealistic.
Zelensky’s blueprint also rejects territorial concessions, calls for allies to lift restrictions on using donated long-range weapons against Russian military sites, and suggests deploying a “non-nuclear strategic deterrence package” on Ukrainian territory.
