France blocks Ukraine's attempts to acquire British Storm Shadow missiles - The Telegraph
Kyiv • UNN
France opposes simplifying rules for Ukraine to purchase British Storm Shadow missiles, insisting on using EU funds exclusively within the bloc. Paris seeks EU strategic autonomy, which causes internal contradictions.
France opposes attempts to simplify the purchase of British Storm Shadow missiles for Ukraine. This was reported by The Telegraph, informs UNN.
Details
It is noted that France opposed the relaxation of rules that would allow Ukraine to use European credit to purchase British weapons. Instead, Paris insists that the funds from the new financial instrument should be spent exclusively within the European Union, with priority given to the European defense industry.
Representatives of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine estimated that this year they will need 24 billion euros to purchase military equipment from outside the EU. This figure mainly concerns the supply of American Patriot air defense systems and PAC-3 interceptor missiles, but long-range missiles have been identified as another need that European countries may not be able to provide. European coalition representatives identified the British Storm Shadow cruise missile as a potential option to fill the gap
However, according to a diplomatic source, France turned out to be an "obvious" opponent of these proposals.
Paris is at the center of efforts to make the EU strategically autonomous from its allies, mainly the US, due to conflicts with Donald Trump over his threats to seize Greenland. It has argued that any funds donated to Ukraine should be used to support the bloc's domestic defense industry, rather than Kyiv's defense needs. This has led to internal contradictions, with such an approach hindering Ukraine's ability to defend itself, especially from Russian aerial bombardments
It is indicated that the attempt to prevent France's influence is supported by the Baltic and Scandinavian countries, as well as Poland, Romania, the Czech Republic, and the Netherlands.
Recall
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius admitted that Berlin is unable to supply Ukraine with the next Patriot air defense systems from its own stocks.