French Defense Minister outlines "red line" on Ukraine

For France, the demilitarization of Ukraine is an absolute "red line" in the settlement of the war. This was stated by French Defense Minister Sébastien Le Coronneu in an interview with Valeurs actuelles.

"Our absolute red line is the demilitarization of Ukraine. We must be consistent. We cannot refuse Ukraine's accession to NATO and at the same time accept the fact that it no longer has an army," the minister said.

According to Lecornu, Ukrainians should be able to provide for their own security. He added that this is a key factor, because "otherwise I don't really believe in the security of neighboring countries".

French Defense Minister emphasizes that the "coalition of the willing" allows Kyiv to think about the future format of its army, while Paris can think about opportunities for its industry.

He also noted that Kyiv cannot always be dependent on Starlink or American missiles for Patriot air defense systems.

• On July 1, 2025, it became known that Macron had been on the phone with Putin for more than two hours – including about the Russian-Ukrainian war. First, the Kremlin reported the fact of the conversation, and later the Elysee Palace confirmed it. This is their first conversation since 2022.
• Bloomberg wrote that Putin rejected ceasefire in conversation with French president.