In Paris and Berlin, Volodymyr Zelensky received unprecedented military support in the war against Russia
A brief embrace in the Elysée courtyard, before a promise of long-term support against the Russian aggressor. Almost two years after the start of the invasion of his country, Volodymyr Zelensky was finally welcomed by Emmanuel Macron on the afternoon of Friday 16 February. After more than an hour of talks, the two signed a bilateral security agreement promised by Paris and Kiev during the NATO summit in Vilnius in July 2023, to withdraw deadly attacks. Russian forces.
Incidentally, the French head of state has taken a harsher tone than ever before “Kremlin Rule”Accountable for death in prison of dissident Alexei Navalny: “Today, Vladimir Putin’s Russia has become a systematic actor in world instability”.He said, to better promise the Ukrainian president to support his country as long as necessary: “ We are determined to defeat Russia with you.Repeated Emmanuel Macron.
The French president took advantage of the moment to pledge support on an unprecedented scale, after long negotiations, at the center of a security agreement signed in favor of Ukraine for ten years: military support up to 3 billion euros planned for 2024. The Elysée tenant thus wants to respond to the demands of his Ukrainian counterpart, who welcomed the agreement, but also to accusations of softness from some of his European partners, who criticize France for not doing enough to equip Ukraine.
discretion
As a defense, Paris has claimed that it has already earmarked a total of 3.8 billion euros for military aid to Kiev in 2022 and 2023, which is significantly higher than estimates made by analysts but which is difficult to verify. , no details. Given on the nature of expenditure. Until now, Elysee has always refused to provide such an assessment, so as not to provoke Russia but to avoid providing it with operational information.
Is this wisdom really out of date? A document released some time ago by the President specifies that France has so far provided Ukraine with 30 Caesar cannons and 4 units of rocket launchers (LRU), but also 38 AMX-10 RC reconnaissance armored vehicles, 250 armored VAB troop transports, 17 anti-milan. -Tank firing posts, 5 Mistral anti-aircraft firing posts, two Crotel ground-to-air batteries, don’t forget “one hundred” Scalp cruise missiles.
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