Contents tagged with France

  • French and German Foreign Ministers: We do not recognize the annexation of Crimea

    The German Minister of Foreign Affairs, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Marc Ayrault, said that their countries do not recognize the annexation of Ukrainian Crimea by Russia.

    "Concerning the second question, about the legitimacy of the elections to the State Duma in Crimea, as my colleague Ayrault said, we do not recognize and will not recognize the annexation of Crimea," Frank-Walter Steinmeier said, answering a question by a correspondent of LB.u as …

  • France increases its military presence in the Black Sea

    French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, during his visit to Georgia, said that a French warship will soon arrive in Batumi. According to the Minister, this is one of the symbols of French-Georgian cooperation.

    "The main message of my visit is that we are planning to increase the number of ships in the Black Sea. A warship will be located in Batumi, and this fact signifies the historic partnership between our countries, imbued with trust," the Minister said at the press conference.

    The …

  • French Defense Minister: France will help Georgia develop an air defense system

    France will help Georgia implement an air defense system, as stated by French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian during his visit to Tbilisi, Deutsche Welle reported.

    Le Drian said that France will “soon make a proposal for action so that Georgia is able to develop effective means of [ensuring] its air defense, which is central to its sovereignty.”

    The Minister added that in the near future, a French officer will arrive in Georgia who will oversee the implementation of new air defense …

  • Merkel and Hollande to discuss war in Ukraine at G20 conference

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande plan to discuss the peace process in eastern Ukraine at the forthcoming G20 conference in China, Deutsche Welle reported.

    Merkel stated that the EU is not seeing nearly enough progress in the implementation of the Minsk agreements, and she wants to raise the subject at the meeting of the twenty largest economies in the world.

    "Germany and France agree on this, and we will work together to promote this topic,” the German …

  • Ukraine initiates criminal proceedings against French MPs who visited Crimea

    The Ukrainian General Prosecutor’s Office has initiated a criminal case against the French deputies who visited the Crimea in July of this year, the Ukrainian MP of the People’s Front party, George Logvinsky, wrote on his Facebook page.

    On August 11, Logvinsky reported that the Prosecutor’s Office “initiated pre-trial investigation of criminal proceedings over a criminal offense envisioned by part 1 of Article 332-1 [Violation of the procedure of entry to Ukraine’s temporarily occupied …

  • Hollande: The conflict in eastern Ukraine could escalate

    President of France François Hollande believes that there is a high likelihood that the situation in eastern Ukraine will deteriorate further.

    François Hollande spoke about the risk of the situation in eastern Ukraine becoming worse. “This summer the situation has become much worse. Risks of escalation are high,” the president of France stated on Tuesday, August 30 during an annual gathering of French ambassadors, Reuters reports.

    Hollande said that, together with Chancellor of Germany Angela …

  • French Foreign Minister: Syria is a 'military trap' for Russia

    Russian leadership has a good chance to get out of the military trap it has gotten itself into, expressed the Foreign Minister of France, Jean-Marc Ayrault, commenting on the further development of the situation in Syria after the publication of the report on the use of chemical weapons by the Russian-supported Assad regime, RFI reported.

    According to the French Minister, the use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime in 2014 and 2015 is "not only illegal but morally unacceptable for those …

  • Ukrainian Ambassador in France: Relations between Paris and Kiev may deteriorate

    After the elections in France next year, relations with Kyiv may deteriorate. The Ambassador of Ukraine to France, Oleh Shamshur, expressed this opinion in an interview with Europeyska Pravda.

    According to him, potential successors to the current president Hollande – Le Pen and Sarkozy – have not yet spoken about their vision for the Normandy group (Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany); however, their position regarding the restoration of relations with Russia does not favor Ukraine.

    "2017 …

  • French Foreign Ministry says its position on the Crimea remains unchanged

    A representative from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Romain Nadal, stated that the official position of France on the Crimea remains unchanged – the accession of the peninsula was illegal. Nadal noted that attempts by the Russian authorities to legitimize the accession of the Crimea by electing representatives from the peninsula to the Russian State Duma will not change France’s position.

    “On the 16th of August, the president of the republic recalled the consistent position of France …

  • Despite visit by French MPs, French Foreign Ministry reaffirms stance that Crimea is Ukrainian territory

    A comment about the non-recognition of the Crimea’s annexation was published on the website of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs on August 1st as a response to last week’s visit by French deputies to the peninsula.

    "Redrawing the borders is contrary to international law. Therefore, the international community, the EU and France do not recognize the illegal annexation of the Crimea. This clear position can in no way be called into question neither by travels, nor by the statements which …