1 week Ago By SAMYA KULLAB Associated Press
KYIV, Ukraine — France’s foreign minister pledged his support for Ukraine’s plan to end the war with Russia, telling reporters in Kyiv on Saturday that he would work with Ukrainian officials to secure other nations’ backing for the proposal. Unveiled by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this past week, Kyiv’s “victory plan” hopes to compel Russia to end its invasion through negotiations. The proposal is being considered by Ukraine’s Western partners, whose help is vital for Kyiv to resist its bigger neighbor.
A key element would be a formal invitation into NATO, which Western allies were reluctant to consider until after the war ends. “A Russian victory would be a consecration for the law of the strongest and would push the international order toward chaos,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said at a joint news conference with Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha. “That is why our exchanges should allow us to make progress on President Zelenskyy’s victory plan and rally the greatest number possible of countries around it.
” Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion Feb. 24, 2022, France has been one of Ukraine’s staunchest military, diplomatic and economic supporters in Europe, and is training and equipping what will become a full new brigade of Ukrainian soldiers for front-line deployment. Zelenskyy said Saturday he expects the brigade to be in Ukraine by the end of November.
French President Emmanuel Macron also previously pushed for a policy shift from Ukraine’s Western allies that could change the complexion of the war — allowing Kyiv to strike military bases inside Russia with sophisticated long-range weapons provided by Western partners, which include missiles from France. Barrot also announced France would deliver the first batch of Mirage 2000 combat jets to Ukraine in the first three months of 2025, with Ukrainian pilots and mechanics also trained to fly and maintain them. Barrot’s visit coincided with a prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine late Friday that included 190 prisoners of war traded by the two sides under a deal negotiated by the United Arab Emirates.
The swap followed the repatriation of 501 dead soldiers to Ukraine. Russia received the bodies of 89 of its soldiers, Russian lawmaker Shamsayil Saraliyev told reporters. Meanwhile, a video purporting to show dozens of North Korean recruits lining up to collect Russian military fatigues and gear aims to intimidate Ukrainian forces, Ukrainian officials said.
The video, obtained by Ukraine’s Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security, is said to show North Korean soldiers standing in line to pick up supplies from Russian servicemen. The center claims the footage recently was shot by a Russian soldier. The location is unknown.
The Associated Press could not independently verify the video. It came after the head of Ukrainian military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, said about 11,000 North Korean infantrymen were training in eastern Russia. He predicted they would be ready to join fighting by November.
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