France condemns in the strongest possible terms the Russian missile strikes on the city of Odesa, Ukraine, which took place while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis were visiting and left five people dead. Already, a drone attack on a residential building in Odesa on Saturday left 12 people dead, including five children, and injured at least 20 others.
These despicable attacks constitute a new violation of international law by Russia, which is pursuing its escalation and its strategy of intimidating Ukraine and the country’s supporters.
As Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Stéphane Séjourné stated, Russia must be defeated in Ukraine. Therefore, France will continue working in close coordination with its partners to provide Ukraine with the support it needs to defend itself. That was the motivation behind the February 26th conference held on President Macron’s initiative, which aimed to enable us to better coordinate our efforts for Ukraine and to take faster and greater action. France will continue to provide Ukraine with bilateral military assistance, in accordance with the commitments made in the Agreement on security cooperation that was signed by President Macron and President Zelenskyy on February 16.
Originally published at https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/country-files/ukraine/news/article/ukraine-france-condemns-the-russian-attack-on-odesa-7-mar-2024
