British and French military chiefs traveled to Kiev this week to discuss ways to strengthen Ukrainian forces and support the war-torn country after hostilities with Russia end, France’s Thierry Burkhard said Saturday.
On Friday, Burkhard and British Defense Chief Tony Radakin held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukrainian Army Chief Oleksandr Sysyrsky, and Defense Minister Rustam Umerov.
French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer are leading a European effort to send an “assurance force” to Ukraine after any end to the war that began with Russia’s invasion in 2022. Ukraine has said that Russia does not want a ceasefire.
The visit to Kiev by the French and British military chiefs came on the same day that Russian ballistic missile strikes killed at least 18 people, including nine children, in Zelensky’s home city of Krivoy Rog, officials said. Zelensky called the meeting with Burkhard and Radakin “fundamental.”
“We are discussing the presence on the ground, in the air and at sea. We are also discussing air defense and there are some other sensitive things,” he said on Friday evening, without elaborating. “We will meet every week at our military level. Our partners already have a lot of understanding about what Ukraine needs.”
Burkhard, the head of the French armed forces, said on Saturday that they discussed “assurance options” offered by the international coalition. “Together, we want to guarantee a lasting and solid peace in Ukraine, which is a necessary condition for the security of the European continent,” he said at the event.
According to him, the goal of the joint trip was to ‘maintain strong support’ for the Ukrainian army, which would allow it to continue fighting against Russian forces. He said another goal is to ‘define a long-term strategy for the reconstruction and transformation of the army.’
