France continues to condemn the illegal war of aggression led by ...

Mr. President,

I would like to thank Messrs. Jenca and Hollingworth for their briefings.

I would like to stress two points.

Firstly, France continues to condemn the illegal war of aggression led by Russia against Ukraine.

Since 24th February 2022, the Ukrainian people have been courageously defending themselves, while they suffer violence, crime and torture on a daily basis.

Russia is attacking civilian populations unremittingly, in violation of international humanitarian law. Since last Friday, Kiev has been targeted by several dozen Shaheed drones. Russian forces are also attacking Ukraine’s essential infrastructure, in particular energy infrastructure. These indiscriminate strikes are worsening the situation for the population. More than 17 million people now require humanitarian assistance.

As the winter approaches, we must remain fully committed: 300 million euros have been mobilized by France in order to respond to the urgent humanitarian needs and to ensure the rehabilitation of essential infrastructures.

Mr. President,

France will continue to provide Ukraine with the necessary support to enable it to exercise its legitimate defense enshrined in the United Nations Charter. We will also continue our support for Ukrainian jurisdictions and for the International Criminal Court in order to fight impunity.

Instead of continuing its headlong rush, that endangers international peace and security, Russia must put an end to this war. It must cease its aggression and withdraw its troops from Ukrainian territory, as demanded by the International Court of Justice on the 16th of March 2022. It must hear the calls of the General Assembly, which by an overwhelming majority affirmed and reaffirmed its commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and declared any attempt to annex Ukraine as illegal with regard to international law.

The restoring of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and the preservation of our collective security is at the very core of the vision for a just and lasting peace developed by Ukraine. We would like to welcome the meeting held in Malta on the 28th of October, with an increasing number of States involved.

Secondly, we continue to be engaged in mitigating the consequences of this war of aggression on a global scale, particularly by combating food insecurity.

Russia has taken a unilateral decision to not renew the Black Sea grain initiative and to pursue its repeated attacks against Ukrainian production and storage infrastructures. On the 9th of November, Russia targeted a civilian ship in the port of Odessa, leading to the death of the captain and wounding several crew members and staff on land. This is the 21st attack on Ukrainian ports since last July. These attacks show that Russia continues to use food as a weapon. The consequences can be felt far beyond Ukraine, by the populations of the most vulnerable countries.

In response to this, France and the European Union have been acting since the beginning of the war to support the maintenance of Ukraine’s agricultural activities and enable Ukrainian agricultural products to supply world markets, particularly through solidarity corridors.

France decided to strengthen its contribution to the World Food Program up to €166 million in 2023, including for the benefit of Ukraine. With our support, the World Food Program and the FAO will be able to contribute to the demining of agricultural land in Ukraine thanks to an innovative project using artificial intelligence.

France will continue to provide support to the countries most vulnerable to food insecurity, with food aid that will exceed 950 million euros in 2023. Our participation in the "Grain from Ukraine" summit in Kiev on November 25th, as well as yesterday’s Global Food Security Summit in London, are further evidence of our commitment in this matter.

Thank you.