France’s defense ministry says its warplanes bombed Islamic State positions in central Syria on Sunday. The French attacks follow several U.S. strikes on IS positions following the ouster of longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad in early December.

In related news, Syria’s new foreign minister has held his first diplomatic meetings. Asaad Hassan al-Shibani was named Syria’s top diplomat on December 21 by the interim government. On Monday, he welcomed Kuwait’s foreign minister for talks about ending international sanctions and pledging closer ties to countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Al-Shibani also met with Ukraine’s foreign minister to discuss strengthening ties after decades of Russian support for Bashar al-Assad’s rule.

Asaad Hassan al-Shibani: “There will be strategic contributions and partnerships between us and Ukraine on political, economic and social levels. We also have scientific collaborations that we will restart with Ukraine. We once again welcome the Ukrainian foreign minister.”

The Syrian and Ukrainian diplomats also discussed the fate of a Russian naval base and air base in Syria — Russia’s only two military bases outside of the former Soviet Union.