French Armed Forces Minister Visits Ukraine For The First Time

• 7.02.2026, 22:51

It was about the Mirage and the Rafale.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky on Saturday held a meeting with French Minister of Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Catherine Vautrin, who visited Ukraine for the first time since her appointment last October, "European Pravda".

The main focus of the discussion was military aid, strengthening Ukrainian air defense systems and missiles and expanding Ukraine's air force with French Mirage and Rafale aircraft. Zelensky briefed Vautrin on the consequences of the strike that Russia launched against Ukraine this night.

The Ukrainian president noted the importance of the delivery of SAMP/T systems and French Mirage aircraft to strengthen Ukrainian air defense.

He stressed that the rapid arrival of air defense systems would strengthen the protection of Ukrainian skies. Ukraine is also interested in the early implementation of joint projects with France within the framework of European initiatives, first of all SAFE.

Catherine Vautrin assured of further support of France to Ukraine. She noted the effective work with the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Mikhail Fedorov, in particular on modernization of radars provided by France and cooperation in the production of drones.

- France will comply with its commitments on Rafale. As for the deliveries - they will be implemented as foreseen under the SAFE program. We will be your loyal partner, we will defend your cause and try to involve the European defense-industrial complex in this work in a broad sense in order to strengthen our capabilities and our sovereignty in the European sense," she stressed.

- During the meeting, they also discussed the sanctions policy against Russia. The Ukrainian president noted that France had demonstrated a brave step when it detained a tanker of the "shadow fleet of the Russian Federation".