France reaffirms NATO commitments, prepares long-term peace framework for Ukraine – Barrot

France is reaffirming its defense commitments within NATO amid rising Russian threats and says that its strong role in the Alliance is fully compatible with efforts to build a "coalition of the willing" aimed at preparing future security guarantees for Ukraine.

French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot made the statement ahead of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Helsingborg, Sweden, on Friday, May 22, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"I welcome the adoption a few days ago of the updated military programming law, with EUR 36 billion in additional defense spending between 2026 and 2030, which allows us to stay on the trajectory and commitments we made at last year's NATO summit," Barrot said.

He stressed that the current security environment requires continued solidarity within the Alliance, calling proposals by some French political figures to withdraw from NATO "completely irresponsible."

"In the world we live in, we more than ever need these solidarity mechanisms that bind us to our main partners and neighbors. From that perspective, calls by some French political figures to leave NATO are obviously unreasonable and completely irresponsible," he said.

Barrot warned that such rhetoric is especially dangerous given growing Russian pressure, particularly on Baltic states.

"The threat is growing. Some of our partners, and I am thinking in particular of the Baltic states, have in recent days been under constant pressure due to Russia's aggressiveness, and they would see it as a betrayal to distance ourselves from an organization that, since 1949, has allowed us to deter and prevent any form of threat," he said.

He also added that France's strong presence in NATO does not conflict with other initiatives, including the "Coalition of the Willing" led by France and the United Kingdom, which is working on future security guarantees for Ukraine.

"A strong and robust French presence in NATO is in no way incompatible with other initiatives France has pursued in recent months. I am thinking in particular of the Coalition of the Willing, which France and the United Kingdom have brought together, with military planning unprecedented in our recent history, and which will make it possible, once peace is achieved in Ukraine, to ensure that this peace is truly lasting," Barrot said.

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