FFrance's new Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné emphasized support for the country attacked by Russia in the Ukrainian capital Kiev on his first official trip abroad. Ukraine “will remain the priority for France despite the increase in crises,” he said in Kiev on Saturday. France “will not hesitate” and its determination remains unbroken, he said at a press conference with his Ukrainian colleague Dmytro Kuleba.

In its fight against Russia, Ukraine is defending the “basic principles of international law, the values ​​of Europe, but also the security interests of the French,” said Séjourné. A meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was also planned.

Séjourné, a close confidant of French President Emmanuel Macron, was unexpectedly appointed as the new foreign minister in a government reshuffle on Thursday. He had already promised further support to Ukraine on Friday when he took office. “Helping Ukraine means guaranteeing the victory of democracy.” France recently came under criticism because French support for Ukraine is less than German support.

Just the day before, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was in Kiev. There he signed a security agreement between the two countries and Zelensky. “This day has already gone down in the history of our country: today we have an agreement, a security agreement with Great Britain, which we have been working on for a long time,” Zelensky said in his daily video address on Friday.