French secretary of state meets with Poroshenko, Tigipko and Yatseniuk

17:50

French Secretary of State for European Affairs Pierre Lellouche, who represented the leadership of his country at the ceremony of the inauguration of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, held meetings with Foreign Minister Petro Poroshenko and candidates in the last presidential election, Sergiy Tigipko and Arseniy Yatseniuk, as part of his visit to Kyiv on Thursday.

The French Embassy in Ukraine told Interfax-Ukraine that the sides had discussed urgent issues of European life, prospects for finding a way out of the economic and financial crisis, energy problems, strategic issues, as well as the Eastern Partnership and relations between the European Union and Russia.

The embassy said that Lellouche had confirmed that France was considering Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's request, submitted in November 2009, regarding the possible purchase of Mistral-class amphibious assault ships for the Russian Navy.

This request equally concerns Spain and the Netherlands.

"Since then, France has not received any confirmation of the Russian leadership's intentions," the embassy said.

The embassy said that Lellouche's participation in the inauguration of the new Ukrainian president "is evidence of France's full support for Ukraine in its movement through political and economic reforms."

"On a bilateral basis, and as part of the EU, France supports Ukraine's efforts aimed at signing a new association agreement the principle of which was agreed during the French presidency of the Council of the European Union," the embassy said.