Zelensky, French foreign minister discuss joint drone production.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address on Jan.

13 that he discussed Ukraine's defense needs in his meeting with newly-appointed French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne. Zelensky said they discussed joint production of drones and artillery and further strengthening of missile defense systems. Sejourne, appointed as the French foreign minister on Jan.

11, made his inaugural trip abroad when he arrived in Kyiv on Jan.

13. "It is very symbolic that the minister's first visit is to Ukraine and precisely at a time when Russia is trying various ways to increase attacks on Ukraine and bypass our missile defense systems," Zelensky said. Zelensky and Sejourne also discussed Ukraine's progress on its proposed Peace Formula, according to the president.

France is set to host an "artillery coalition" conference in Paris later in January to strengthen the Ukrainian military.

France has provided Ukraine with military aid worth 3.2 billion euros (£3.5 billion), according to a report from the French parliament published in November 2023.