The Macedonian flag was flying outside the foreign ministry in Kyiv, and beside the entrance stood the wreckage of a downed drone. That is the scene in which minister Timčo Mucunski shook hands with Ukrainian minister Andrii Sybiha.

Mucunski's message was direct and unwrapped: "We stand with Ukraine. Ukraine is a sovereign state. Its territorial integrity must be respected. Borders cannot be changed by force."

That last sentence deserves to be read twice in a country like ours.

What was actually agreed

According to the Macedonian foreign ministry, the talks covered deepening political dialogue, economic cooperation, security challenges and the European perspective of both countries. But the most concrete item is a different one: Macedonia expressed readiness to take an active part in Ukraine's recovery and reconstruction as soon as conditions allow.

That is not a declaration, that is positioning. Ukraine's reconstruction will be an enormous construction and infrastructure undertaking, and the countries that want a share are lining up now - not when the war ends.

Mucunski also met Oleksandr Korniienko, first deputy speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, and together with Sybiha paid respects at the Memorial Wall for fallen defenders.

The host's sentence

Sybiha said something worth pulling out of the protocol text: "Ukraine and North Macedonia are not competitors on this path."

That is a sentence addressed to a country that has spent years watching somebody else overtake it in the EU queue. Whether Kyiv actually means it, or whether it is diplomatic courtesy toward a partner it needs - we will see from which of the two opens a negotiating chapter first.

And why this visit is not routine

Ukraine's ambassador to Macedonia, Larysa Dir, described the visit as an important expression of solidarity and support, at a time of intensified Russian attacks on Kyiv.

That is the part you do not see in the press release. A minister landing in a city hit by drones at night does not go there for a signature on a memorandum. He goes because being present at that moment means more than any statement issued from Skopje.

Macedonia is a small country with modest capacity to help. But the position that borders are not changed by force costs nothing to say and a great deal to abandon. So far, we have not abandoned it.