Ukraine, France sign grant agreement on security, defense

By Burc Eruygur

ANKARA (AA) – Ukraine said on Thursday that it signed a grant agreement with France in the fields of security and defense.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov and his French counterpart Sebastien Lecornu signed the agreement on the provision of grants to Ukraine amid a pledge by French President Emmanuel Macron to increase Paris’s military support to Kyiv.

“The agreement allows France to supply weapons to Ukraine in accordance with the initiative of presidents, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Emmanuel Macron,” Reznikov said on Twitter.

“We thank France for supporting the Ukrainian army,” he added.

Macron reaffirmed “France’s commitment to increasing its support for Ukraine in response to the needs expressed by Kyiv, including in terms of military equipment” during a phone conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart on Monday.

On Tuesday, Lecornu said that Paris will deploy tanks and armored vehicles with military units to countries on the eastern flank of Europe to strengthen its military presence in NATO.