The statement was made by Clement Beaune, France's secretary of state for European affairs, as cited by Ukrainian online newspaper Yevropeiska Pravda. The European Commission recommended giving candidate status to Ukraine on June 17, and the European Council is set to decide on Ukraine’s application on June 23.
The deployment took place in Sumy Oblast, a northeastern region bordering Russia that has recently faced renewed Moscow's attempts to advance.
Ukraine's Air Force said Russian forces launched 136 drones overnight, including Iranian-designed Shahed-type attack drones, and fired four S-300/400 guided missiles.
"There are many topics to discuss," Ukraine's Presidential Office head Andriy Yermak said.
Russian Shahed-type drones regularly breach Belarusian airspace as they fly towards Ukrainian cities during mass attacks which have escalated significantly over recent weeks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin told U.S. President Donald Trump that Moscow intended to continue offensive operations until it secured the full administrative borders of occupied Ukrainian regions.
The number includes 1,130 casualties Russian forces suffered just over the past day.
The EU is close to reaching a full agreement on its 18th sanctions package against Moscow, which will include a new Russian oil price cap, Reuters reported on July 13, citing four sources within the bloc.
"We will send them Patriots, which they desperately need, because (Russian President Vladimir) Putin really surprised a lot of people. He talks nice and then bombs everybody in the evening," U.S. President Donald Trump said on July 13.
"Industry needs to ramp up its capacities. That applies to ammunition, to drones, to tanks — really to almost every area," German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said.
Western countries and Israel suspect Tehran of seeking to develop a nuclear weapon, a claim Iran denies, defending what it calls its "non-negotiable" right to develop a civilian nuclear program.
A Russian drone attack on Ukraine's northeastern Sumy Oblast on July 13 killed one person and injured nine others, Governor Oleh Gryhorov reported, amid a larger attack on the region's critical infrastructure.
Moscow's ongoing summer offensive has not reached the Kremlin's expectations as Ukrainian troops continue to thwart Russian attacks on various regions, President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed on July 13.
U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said in an interview with CBS News on July 13 that he expects an influx of U.S. weapons shipments to Ukraine to begin "in the coming days," as U.S. President Donald Trump prepares to make a "major statement" on the war in Ukraine on July 14.
