UK, French defense ministers in Ukraine for aid talks

French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu (L) looks on to the Memory Wall of Fallen Defenders of Ukraine during his visit in Kyiv on September 28, 2023. (AFP)

• Their visits came ahead of Kyiv’s first Defense Industries Forum
• “I’ve been back to Kyiv this week to ask Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky what he needs to win,” UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said

KYIV: The British and French defense ministers visited Kyiv Thursday to discuss further military aid to Ukraine to bolster Kyiv’s counter-offensive against Russian forces.
Their visits came ahead of Kyiv’s first Defense Industries Forum, where Ukrainian officials were set to meet representatives from over 160 defense firms and 26 countries.
“I’ve been back to Kyiv this week to ask Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky what he needs to win,” UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said on his first trip to the Ukrainian capital in that role.
French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu is expected to hold talks with Zelensky and his new Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.
“We know that this war is going to last... We must ensure that tomorrow we continue to be reliable in our aid to Ukraine,” Lecornu said, after laying flowers at a memorial to Ukraine’s fallen soldiers.
Both Britain and France have supplied Ukraine with long-range cruise missiles which the Kremlin says can be used to strike Russian territory.
Ukraine has repeatedly asked for more Western arms, including longer-range weapons, to regain occupied territory.
Kyiv launched its counter-offensive in June but has acknowledged slow progress as its forces encounter lines of heavily fortified Russian defenses.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, who also visited Kyiv on Thursday, said Ukraine was slowly clawing back territory from Russian forces.
“Every meter that Ukrainian forces regain is a meter that Russia loses,” he said.