Defense Minister: France will transfer decommissioned military equipment to Ukraine instead of utilization
Kyiv • UNN
France is giving Ukraine decommissioned but still operational military equipment instead of scrapping it, without undermining its own defense capabilities.
France will transfer decommissioned military equipment to Ukraine, not just throw it away. French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecorneuil said this in an interview with the French publication Var Matin , UNN reports.
Because we are investing heavily in our armies under this 413 billion euro plan for 2024-2030, we have a lot of equipment that is still working that will be removed from our armies. Instead of scrapping it or giving it to other countries, we are giving it to the Ukrainian army. But I repeat: there has been no reduction in our defense model.
Details
The French minister gave this answer to journalists when asked about the criticism of arms supplies to Ukraine. He repeatedly emphasized that there will be no weakening of the French army against the background of arms supplies to Ukraine, and advised critics to choose another topic of discussion.
We are the government that has invested the most in defense since 2017. Those who want to criticize us will have to choose a different angle than disarming the country, given the large sums we are asking taxpayers to mobilize for our national defense. ... There is a red line that we have never crossed: undermining our defense system. Never! Regarding the weapons that we were able to receive from our armies, such as the Caesar guns, they certainly disrupted the training schedule of our artillerymen, particularly in Canjouers. But it never undermined our system artillery.
The Minister of the French Armed Forces also assured that the new law on military planning, which has already been approved by the Parliament, does not pose any threat to the French defense industry and will allow to revise some defense contracts and help Ukraine in the future.
Parliament has passed a law on military programming. This is the subject of commitments that were published in the Official Journal. Commitments are not so much money as the number of boats, hours of training, stocks of ammunition, missiles, etc. allocated to each army. What matters is physical and real. .... Inflation is slowing down, so there are opportunities to renegotiate contracts, which can be done and can also help Ukraine. I would be a bad manager if I did not do this. The allocations for our defense are increasing, and this is good news, ... but we have to have a rational management of taxpayers' money in the Ministry of Armed Forces.
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