Turkey has announced new drilling operations in the eastern Mediterranean, including in areas within Cyprus's exclusive economic zone.

In this context, France reaffirms its strong commitment to compliance with the Law of the Sea, as well as its solidarity with Cyprus, whose sovereignty must be respected, as EU High Representative Federica Mogherini also just reiterated.

We call on Turkey to avoid any action that would be unlawful and could jeopardize regional stability.

Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has proposed implementing a new format for negotiations relating to the situation in the Donbas region, with the participation of Russia, France, Ukraine, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. What's your response to this proposal? Do you think it could help make progress toward resolving the crisis in eastern Ukraine?

France welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's willingness to engage in dialogue with his Russian counterpart in order to resolve the crisis between the two countries.

The meetings in the so-called Normandy format (France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine) are aimed at facilitating the implementation of the commitments made by the parties under the Minsk accords, which form the agreed basis for resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine. These meetings do not exclude any other diplomatic efforts to achieve this goal, and notably complement the discussions within the Trilateral Contact Group under OSCE auspices.