A few days before the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Minister of the Armed Forces affirmed in an interview with Le Parisien that the AMX-10 light tanks promised by France to Ukraine would be "delivered by the end of the
week next
”.
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"
The training is about to end, these armored vehicles will be delivered from the end of next week
," said Sébastien Lecornu, who nevertheless refuses to comment on the number of tanks delivered "
so as not to give any information strategic to Russia
.
The Minister of the Armed Forces also reaffirmed France's position not to deliver the Leclerc tanks requested by Kiev for the time being, considering that having experienced "
limited export success
", it could not be delivered en masse. , unlike the German Leopard.
“We are neither naive nor going to war”
If he was evasive on the question of the combat planes claimed by Zelensky, Sébastien Lecornu did not close the door to possible deliveries.
“
There is no taboo
,” he declared, adding that “nothing is
excluded
” regarding the training of Ukrainian pilots by the French army.
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While Emmanuel Macron spoke on Friday, during the Munich security conference, of a war in Ukraine which "
affects the entire planet
", the Minister of the Armed Forces ruled out the risk, for Westerners, of becoming co-belligerents: "
We we are neither naive nor warmongers.
According to him, the strengthening of military support for Ukraine should not lead France or its allies to engage more directly in the conflict.
“
Self-defense exists in international law.
It is therefore not “escalatory”
(sic.)
to defend oneself (...)
, he underlined, before castigating the arguments of
certain political formations inspired in this by the narrative of the Kremlin
”.
"
Marine Le Pen's recent statements on the risk of a Third World War that our aid to Ukraine would cause are the words of the Kremlin
," he insisted, also pointing the finger at "
rebellious France
".
Ammunition stocks “under tension”
Asked about the ability of Westerners to provide sufficient ammunition to Ukraine, Sébastien Lecornu declared that "
our defense industrial and technological base must be transformed, in order to be able to produce faster, in mass and at controlled costs
", confirming that ''with
military support for Ukraine, stocks around the world are strained
''
.
The Minister of the Armed Forces recalled that last summer, Emmanuel Macron had asked French industry to "
put themselves in a war economy situation
".
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On this reinforcement of the military industry which he calls for, the Minister of the Armed Forces mentioned the company Nexter, manufacturer of the Caesar cannon supplied by France to Ukraine.
"
The production lines will manufacture twice as many each month, going from four today to eight by next year
, explained Sébastien Lecornu,
and the manufacturing time will decrease, going from thirty months to ten- seven months today, for a goal that I had set at twelve months.
This increase in production rates will make it possible to replace the Caesars already sold by the armies to Ukraine more quickly
”
.