Defense Ministers of Ukraine Rustem Umerov and France’s Sébastien Lecorne discussed the supply of weapons and military equipment, bilateral projects on military-technical cooperation, training of Ukrainian servicemen and the implementation of Euro-Atlantic standards, the press service of the Defense Ministry reports.
“I would like to thank Mr. Minister, the President, the government and the people of the French Republic for their unwavering support for Ukraine in providing a powerful package of military and humanitarian aid, as well as protecting Ukrainians who were forced to flee Ukraine to escape Russian bombing,” the press service quoted Umerov as saying.
It is reported that France has already provided Ukraine with modern SAMP/T and Crotale air defense systems, CAESAR artillery systems, Milan anti-tank weapons, AMX tanks, VAB armored personnel carriers, etc. According to Umerov, “this assistance certainly brings our victory closer.”
Lecorneu, for his part, emphasized the importance of continuing assistance to Ukraine by partner countries in the long term, focusing on the transfer of weapons and military equipment, training of Ukrainian military personnel and joint defense production.
“The first is the transfer of weapons. We will continue to transfer weapons to Ukraine. The second part of our support is training of soldiers. We have fulfilled our goals by the end of the year. More than seven thousand Ukrainian soldiers were trained in France (on French territory or in Poland). It was either some general training or specialized training. I would like to inform you that the training will continue at the same level. The third issue is more strategic and concerns our ability to jointly produce something for the needs of Ukraine,” the French Defense Minister said.
In addition, during the visit of the Minister of the French Armed Forces to Ukraine, a memorandum of intent on cooperation was signed between the state-owned enterprise of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine “Defense Procurement Agency” and the Directorate General for Armaments (DGA) (France). The document envisages indefinite cooperation and creates a legal framework for concluding contracts. It will also contribute to deepening military-technical cooperation, in particular in the development of joint high-tech projects for the defense of both countries.
Police and gendarmes in France detained 719 rioters overnight, the country’s Interior Ministry said Sunday morning.
That figure is less than 24 hours earlier: on Saturday morning authorities had informed about 994 people detained during the night. And a few hours later, more complete figures came in about 1,311 detainees.
In general, as noted by the French media, it seems that this night in the cities of the country was somewhat calmer than previous ones. There were reports of 577 arson attacks on cars, as well as fires in 74 buildings. Hooligans also attempted to attack 10 gendarmerie barracks and six municipal police stations. All these figures are lower than on Saturday.
According to the French Interior Ministry, 54 police officers and gendarmes were injured overnight (79 the day before).
One of the most dangerous incidents occurred in the Parisian suburb of L’Ay-les-Roses, where hooligans set fire to a car and, seeking to use it as a battering ram, directed it toward the mayor’s house. One of the mayor’s children was injured. The police classified the incident as an attempted murder and are investigating.
Order in the French cities on Sunday night was provided by 45 thousand police officers and gendarmes.
On Saturday there was a funeral for a teenager who was shot and killed by a police officer on Tuesday in the Paris suburb of Nanterre. The young French resident, while driving a car, refused to stop at the request of the police. A policeman then shot him. An investigation is under way to determine whether the policeman acted correctly. This incident provoked a wave of night-time unrest throughout the country, which has not subsided to this day.
France is discussing with its partners possible agreements on security guarantees for Ukraine in the face of future threats to the country, a French Foreign Ministry spokesman said at a briefing on Tuesday.
“France is ready to agree with Ukraine on agreements aimed at providing security guarantees that will help it protect itself in the long term and prevent possible future aggressions,” the French foreign ministry said.
According to the Foreign Ministry, “France, together with its partners, continues to reflect on how best to support Ukraine in the long term and in all areas.”
The Wall Street Journal wrote that despite the fact that NATO is not currently considering Ukraine’s membership, the alliance’s leading powers are discussing possible security guarantees for Kyiv, which include strengthening the country’s defense capabilities and sovereignty.
The United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and France could act as guarantors of Ukrainian security, the publication reported.
French Minister of Environmental Transformation Christophe Béchou said on Franceinfo that a drought prevention committee was convened Thursday, to be followed on Monday by a meeting of all the prefects of the national territory.
“This winter is the driest since 1959,” the minister recalled, answering questions from the channel on Wednesday.
He said that France was on “drought alert.” The country has not had any significant rain for 31 days, although precipitation is expected in some places starting Feb. 22.
A meeting with prefects is expected to “look at territory by territory, what things are like,” Beshu noted.
He confirmed that strict restrictive measures on water use could be announced Monday, to begin in March, “to avoid catastrophic situations this summer.”
In view of this prospect, the minister urged that efforts to conserve water be made “already now.” To date, restrictions are already in force in parts of the eight departments of the country. In four departments, emergency water control is in place.
Climatologists are very concerned about the insufficient level of underground water reserves. The French aquifers are “two months late, in terms of filling,” according to Béchu. “It’s fixable, but we need a rainy March, we have two months ahead of us,” the minister explained.
He said that an “extensive water plan” of about fifty measures will be presented in the coming days. The French, in particular, will be encouraged to moderate the use of drinking water for technical and agricultural purposes. The minister also advocated a greater use of treated wastewater in agriculture.
In the summer of 2022, many regions in France experienced a historic drought.
France and Italy have agreed to supply Ukraine with a SAMP-T anti-aircraft missile system, the French TV channel BFM-TV reported.
French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecorniou, during a phone conversation with his Italian counterpart Guido Crozetto on Friday, agreed on the final details of this delivery.
It is indicated that the air defense system will be delivered in the spring of 2023.
The French media note that this is the first delivery of a European long-range air defense system to Ukraine.
France does not rule out supplying Leclerc heavy combat tanks to Ukraine for support in the war against Russia, French President Emmanuel Macron said at a press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Paris, Le Figaro reported.
“Regarding Leclerc, I asked the minister of the armed forces to work on this. Nothing is ruled out, and it is really being evaluated collectively,” the French president said.
For his part, Scholz, responding to a question about German Leopard tanks, said: “The way we have acted in the past is always closely coordinated with our friends and allies, and we will continue to act according to the specific situation.”
