France's new Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky this weekend to pledge Paris' continued support, his team said on Friday.

Sejourne, who took over from Catherine Colonna in a government reshuffle on Thursday, is “on his way to Kyiv,” his office said.

Zelensky had initially been scheduled to host Colonna, whose trip was to begin in Warsaw.

Sejourne, 38, who unlike Colonna has no background as a professional diplomat, is a close ally of French President Emmanuel Macron and secretary general of the president's Renaissance party. 

On Friday, Sejourne pledged continued strong support for Ukraine in its nearly two-year-old full-scale war with Russia as he formally took over from Colonna.

Advertisement

“Helping Ukraine means guaranteeing the victory of democracy,” he said.

He also said he planned to travel to Berlin and Warsaw “in the coming days.”

To suggest a correction or clarification, write to us here
You can also highlight the text and press Ctrl + Enter