UK foreign secretary Johnson pledges solidarity with France

PARIS – Boris Johnson has made his first official visit to Paris as the new British foreign secretary, meeting with his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault for talks on bilateral co-operation and the fight against extremism.

Johnson surprised media Thursday by speaking in fluent French without accent. He referred to recent attacks on French soil, pledging solidarity from Britain: “The threats we face are the same.”

In a joint statement, the two ministers condemned the situation in Syria and the continued siege of Aleppo “by the Syrian regime.”

Johnson’s trip was overshadowed by comments made earlier this month by Ayrault who accused Johnson of having “lied a lot” to the British public during the referendum campaign to leave the EU.