(MENAFN) On Sunday, Sebastien Lecornu, the French Minister of the Armed Forces, declared that France plans to cease supplying weapons directly from its own inventory to Ukraine. Instead, Kiev is going to have the opportunity to acquire arms directly from French manufacturers through a support fund.
“We are now negotiating with our Ukrainian colleagues to prompt Ukraine to buy new howitzers using money from a special fund, and so that the French military will no longer have to transfer guns from their arsenals,” the minister declared in an interview with a media outlet.
As indicated in a parliamentary report released last week, French military assistance to Ukraine has now reached €3.2 billion (USD3.4 billion), according to Minister of the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu. This substantial contribution positions France among the primary European supporters of the Ukrainian Army, alongside Germany and the UK.
Additionally, France has committed an extra €200 million (USD213 million) to Ukraine's support fund, ensuring ongoing access to French military equipment for the Ukrainian Army. The funds allocated can be utilized by Kiev exclusively for arms procurement, with a preference for transactions with French contractors.
Experts interpret this shift as part of France's revised strategy for supplying equipment to the Ukrainian Army. The French Ministry of Defense's budget is set to increase by €3.5 billion next year, representing a 7.5 percent rise, reaching a total of USD50.4 billion, in line with the new law on military programming for the years 2024-2030.
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