Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne didn’t rule out sending its Leclerc tanks to Ukraine however didn’t make an official announcement to that impact in an deal with to Senators on Wednesday.
Whereas Germany determined to greenlight sending heavy Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, whether or not from Germany or another nation, France continues to bide its time, indicating that “nothing is excluded”.
In an deal with to Senators on Wednesday, Borne “welcomed” the German choice and recalled the mobilisation of France to help Ukraine “in the long run” and “till victory”.
The French authorities claims to have created momentum, with the supply of the German Leopard tanks “complementing and amplifying the help in [light] AMX10-RC tanks”, stated the Elysée.
In her deal with, Borne additionally recalled the ideas on delivering arms to Ukraine that have been already laid out by President Emmanuel Macron, in line with which assist have to be helpful, rapidly efficient and never provoke escalation. France’s defensive functionality shouldn’t be “considerably” weakened consequently both.
Offering sufficiently fast coaching for Ukrainian forces to man Leclerc tanks might show tough as they’re believed to be tougher to deal with than their Leopard counterparts as a result of know-how on board. With manufacturing having been halted prior to now fifteen years, it’s also questionable whether or not appropriate shells and spare elements can nonetheless be present in enough numbers.
The Leopard tanks are way more quite a few – “greater than 3,000 on European territory ” – in comparison with simply over 200 Leclerc tanks which are truly in service – Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu instructed France 5 Wednesday night.
Ukraine expressed “extra expectations […] on photo voltaic defence or artillery than on Leclerc tanks”, stated Lecornu, suggesting {that a} choice may very well be taken to ship different gear.
“The choice can be taken within the coming days,” he added.
Of France’s €200 million-heavy help fund for Ukraine, round €100 million are nonetheless out there, which might enable the Ukrainian authorities to purchase the gear they want immediately from French producers, he added.
On the aspect of the far-right, Marine Le Pen categorically opposed sending heavy weapons to Ukraine as she believes this is able to escalate the battle.
In keeping with the novel left celebration La France Insoumise, “France doesn’t have the means to ship sufficient tanks to make a distinction”, MP Bastien Lachaud instructed France Inter.
(Davide Basso | EURACTIV.fr)
