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Blinken and French minister say allied support for Ukraine must continue; warn of Chinese, North Korean assistance to Russia
Summary
U.S. and French officials said allied support for Ukraine will continue and emphasized building deterrence in any future negotiation, while warning that China and North Korea are helping Russia’s war effort.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and a senior French minister said allied support for Ukraine must persist and that any negotiated outcome should include measures to deter renewed Russian aggression.
Blinken said the partnership of Western countries has supplied important military and economic backing and argued that “the best possible deal has to be one that builds into it real deterrence against Russia repeating its aggression.” He added that Putin “tried to erase Ukraine from the map. He’s failed.”
Both officials warned that countries and suppliers far from Europe are sustaining Russia’s war effort. Blinken pointed to “support from North Korea with artillery, with ammunition, and with troops, and everything that China is doing to support Russia's defense industrial base,” including machine tools and microelectronics flowing to Russia.
The U.S. secretary highlighted allied burden‑sharing in training and security assistance, noting France’s role “from training more than 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers, to signing a bilateral security agreement with Ukraine earlier this year.” The French minister echoed that backing would continue and framed support as necessary to uphold international law and European security.
Blinken said U.S. assistance would continue “to the very last day of this administration” and that much of the work preparing for future negotiations is ready to be handed to the incoming U.S. administration. The French minister and Blinken also cited numbers of international financial contributions as stated at the press event: “We’ve brought some $100,000,000 to support to Ukraine. Our friends from Europe and outside in Asia have brought a $150,000,000,” a figure they presented during remarks.
They said any future negotiation should guard against a ceasefire that leaves space for Russia to regroup. Both officials urged partners to continue supplying Ukraine and to plan deterrent measures that would prevent renewed attacks.
