French defense minister stresses unity, determination to continue support for Ukraine

French Armed Forces Minister Catherine Vautrin stressed the importance of unity and determination to continue supporting Ukraine following a Group of Five (E5) defense ministers’ meeting on Monday.

“I would like to highlight both our unity and our determination to continue supporting Ukraine. This support will not cease,” Vautrin said.

She also reaffirmed their determination to tackle Europe’s security challenges during a joint news conference with her German, Italian, Polish and British counterparts, as well as EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.

“It is extremely important for us not to allow ourselves to be intimidated and never to become divided. This is the context in which we can discuss our objective, as endorsed at the NATO summit in Ankara in July: a stronger Europe within a stronger NATO,” Vautrin also noted.

She stressed that they aim to work together “in practical terms” to achieve their objective, “with a methodology and a timetable, all in full transparency with the United States, as part of the burden-shifting it is calling for.”

Vautrin further outlined their shared defense objectives: producing more equipment, producing it faster and manufacturing equipment suited to current conflicts.

“We must also anticipate tomorrow’s conflicts through greater cooperation and interoperability, in the service of our interests and our security,” she added.

UK Defense Secretary Wes Streeting further warned of “threat and instability” unseen since the end of the Cold War and reaffirmed European unity in the face of current threats.

“We meet against a backdrop of threat and instability of a kind we haven’t seen since the end of the Cold War,” Streeting said.

He noted that Europeans would not be “bystanders” in a context where “it’s not yet clear whether tyranny or freedom will prevail.”

Streeting further voiced support for Ukraine, underlining that “their front line for freedom is our front line for freedom.”

“We don’t want conflict with Russia. None of us seek war with Russia, and we certainly have no quarrel with the Russian people,” he added, pointing instead to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Streeting further said that committing to a stronger Europe within a stronger NATO served their national self-interest as well as their collective interest as Europeans.

“Our alliance with our friends in Washington remains critical and the foundation of the NATO alliance is that an injury to one is an injury to all. And in that spirit of unity of purpose, we stand together for freedom and democracy everywhere,” he added.