Macron promises another delivery of air defense systems to Ukraine – POLITICO

PARIS – French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Wednesday that France would deliver air defense systems to Ukraine, including radars and missiles, in the coming weeks, during an interview with French television channel France2.

Macron said France was stepping up aid following recent Russian airstrikes on Ukraine.

« Everywhere on Ukrainian soil civilians have been killed in intense shelling, and electricity and heating systems have been hit. Russia’s objective is very clearly to break Ukrainian resistance, » he said. he declares.

« We will deliver … radars, systems and missiles to protect them from these attacks, especially drone attacks, » he said.

France’s decision to send air defense systems follows similar announcements from the United States and Germany this week.

On Monday, Russian forces retaliated after an explosion at a key bridge between Russia and Crimea with a wave of missile strikes across the country. Following the strikes, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on countries to step up the response to Russia’s Vladimir Putin and help bolster Ukraine’s air defense systems.

The French president also confirmed that six new Caesars guns, French on-board howitzers, would be sent to Ukraine, in addition to the 18 guns already delivered « which had been decisive in the Donbass », according to Macron. The new guns would be drawn from a delivery originally intended for Denmark.

On Wednesday, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry released a fake romantic video asking France to send more guns instead of flowers and chocolate « to win ». [their] hearts,” a message Macron said he found “very moving.”

France has come under pressure to increase arms donations to Ukraine, after international assessments showed France, one of Europe’s defense heavyweights, lagging behind other states EU members.

In the same interview, the French president confirmed that the French armed forces participated in ad hoc training in Ukraine but did not fight alongside the Ukrainians.