This was announced on Tuesday, August 29, by Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba during a joint press conference with French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna in Paris.

Dmytro Kuleba said that he began his visit to France with a meeting with representatives of French defence companies and invited them to join the First Defence Industries Forum, which Ukraine will hold this fall. The Minister stressed that the goal is to create an integrated system of arms and ammunition production involving Ukraine and European countries.

"Until recently, strategic concepts were developed in which European security was impossible without Russia's participation. However, the Russian aggression has put an end to that. I hope that it has now become clear to everyone that Europe's strategically autonomous security is impossible without Ukraine. And this is a tectonic shift in ideas about Europe and its future," the Minister stressed.

Dmytro Kuleba expressed gratitude to President Emmanuel Macron, the government, and the people of France for the military, energy, and political support that Ukraine has received since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation.

The Minister emphasized France's support for Ukraine's path to the EU and NATO, as well as the steps that need to be taken to open negotiations on Ukraine's membership in the EU by the end of the year.

The heads of diplomacy discussed the Black Sea Grain Initiative. Dmytro Kuleba stressed that Ukraine is interested in resuming its work but is also working to expand alternative ways of exporting grain to foreign markets.

The Ukrainian Foreign Minister also stressed that the path to sustainable and just peace in our country lies through the implementation of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Peace Formula.

"Restoring peace in Ukraine means restoring its territorial integrity within the borders of 1991. Ukraine has all the legal, political, moral, and historical grounds for this," the Minister concluded.