“Ukraine needs effective, reliable and constant military support,” French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu says, among other things, in an interview with Le Figaro newspaper.

“In December we only talked about air defense, in January we only talked about tanks, in February I have a feeling that we will only talk about fighter jets,” says the French minister, pointing to “the military assistance agenda should not be communicative, it must meet the real needs of Ukrainians in self-defense.”

As to whether weapons systems manufacturers are able to meet the needs, the minister emphasizes that “they have to enter the war economy.” “The French model is based on strategic autonomy,” emphasizes the minister.

However, he acknowledges that there is a gap between urgency and opportunity, noting that “if we don’t change the way we do things now, we will never change it. This is also a Covid lesson. We need to prepare our country for sustainability in the long term.”

“Even if the war ends tomorrow, Ukraine will still need help to continue to defend itself and deter potential aggressors,” Lecornu said.

For his part, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, in an interview with the BFM-TV channel, said that “Russia is preparing for the offensive very seriously and is mobilizing 500,000 people,” adding that “it could attack on February 24.”

Finally, the Ukrainian minister thanked France for their help, emphasizing that “the sent 12 Caesar guns will change the situation.”

Source: RES-IPE