Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna met today in Prague with her Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, on the sidelines of the informal meeting of EU foreign ministers.
Ms. Colonna and the Ukrainian minister reiterated how important it is for the IAEA mission at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to proceed in the best possible conditions. Following an intense session in which France strongly advocated for this mission, the minister commended the constructive role played by the Ukrainian authorities in laying the groundwork for a successful mission by the IAEA experts.
In the wake of the 31st anniversary celebrations of Ukrainian independence and the second Crimea Platform summit, the minister reaffirmed France’s determination to maintain our support for Ukraine in every area – military, humanitarian, economic, and in future reconstruction efforts. The ministers also discussed France’s continuing commitment to fight impunity for those responsible for crimes committed in Ukraine.
Source – French Government
Statement by Catherine Colonna, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, on her arrival at the informal meeting of Foreign Ministers (Prague, 30 August 2022)
Hello everyone.
We’re meeting today, as you know, to talk about Africa and Ukraine, in a format enabling direct discussions, as always, the Gymnich format.
Regarding Africa, it will essentially be a question of working on implementing the commitments the European Union made on Africa at the European Union-Africa summit in February, particularly at financial level.
I’d like to remind you here that the European Union is the leading partner in the world for Africa’s development. That has to be said. Simultaneously, of course, the African partners are expected to implement their own commitments to support multilateralism and to support an international system based on the rule of law which enables everyone to live together.
Regarding Ukraine, I’m pleased to be able to meet our colleague, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Mr Kuleba, in person, and to be able to continue together, in a long-term and united way – I spoke to him about a specific issue this morning. We’ll see each other later; I’ll be having a meeting with him.
I sense questions about visas might be on people’s lips, and I’m going to answer them in advance. So, on the visas issue it’s important to distinguish between the warmongers, foremost among whom is the Russian President, his entourage and all those supporting his war effort, and, for example, Russian citizens, artists, students and journalists. The former are responsible for the war; the others aren’t. And we’d like to – and must – continue links with the latter. I’d also like to reiterate that the Russian oligarchs are subject to individual sanctions. So they won’t be coming to France or Europe to do their shopping.
Source – French Government