On Armistice Day in Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron and UK opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer reiterated their firmest pledge to stand by Ukraine’s side during its continued resistance against Russia’s aggression.
It came at a time of growing international concern over the future of U.S. support for Ukraine, following comments from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who said he had the ability to end the war quickly but expressed doubts over continued military aid to Ukraine.
The meeting comes at the same time as the 120th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale; this is an historic treaty signed between the UK and France. This provided the opportunity to discuss some key issues, among which was controlling migration across the English Channel.
For illegal migration and human trafficking networks, Macron and Starmer told how cooperative work would be needed to solve this problem. They addressed European security and the situation in Gaza.
The leaders avoided elaborating if Ukraine would be allowed to utilize Storm Shadow missiles, which reportedly have the capacity to hit deep inside Russia. Matters of this nature will be decided by President Joe Biden, who has made it plain that he is reluctant to sanction a long-range missile, fearing that this may expand the scope of the war.
The political landscape supporting Ukraine continues to change, especially amid increasing speculations over a potential second term for Trump. While Trump approached Vladimir Putin, the Russian President, to abandon further escalations, the Kremlin rejected claims that the two had recently communicated with each other.
As tensions flare up on the battleground and the latest reports have significant drone attacks by both Russia and Ukraine, UK and France insisted that their support for Ukraine is critical to the securing of European security.
Another recommendation of additional defense spending by the UK government is also on the cards to further consolidate its support for Ukraine; however, the extent of this is not yet clear. But as for the UK, it continues to remain closely active with its European allies in order to strengthen further the bilateral relations in defense and security.
