Foreign Secretary met French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna today
(Friday 1 July) at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs in
Paris.
Following the NATO Summit in Madrid, the Foreign Secretary
stressed the UK’s commitment to European security and noted the
need for close cooperation with France to strengthen the NATO
Alliance.
The Foreign Secretary and Foreign Minister Colonna agreed that
the G7 and NATO summits showed the UK and France are united in
their response to Russia’s war in Ukraine. The two agreed to
build on the summits to maintain international unity in
supporting Ukraine’s fight for freedom and self-determination.
The ministers discussed the importance of increasing assistance
to Ukraine to reverse Russian advances. They also spoke about
cooperation on sanctions to undermine Putin’s war machine and the
need for the free world to counter threats from the likes of
Russia and China by strengthening security and economic ties.
They spoke about the UK-France relationship and agreed to take
forward work to deepen cooperation, as agreed by the Prime
Minister and President Macron during their recent discussions,
including preparations for a UK-France summit.
Finally, the Foreign Secretary raised the UK’s concerns with the
Northern Ireland Protocol and highlighted the need for UK
legislation in order to fix elements of the Protocol and uphold
the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement, in the face of the EU’s
unwillingness to make the necessary changes to the
Protocol. She reiterated the UK’s preference for a
negotiated solution, and stressed that resolving issues like this
would unleash the full potential of the UK-France relationship.
