French President Emmanuel Macron has announced the delivery of the first series of Mirage 2000 aircraft to Ukraine, the start of training for pilots and mechanics of these aircraft, as well as a full training course for the personnel of one military brigade.
“We are announcing the delivery of the first series of Mirage 2000 aircraft and the start of training for attack pilots and mechanics to maintain these aircraft. We have decided that France will fully equip and train the personnel of a full brigade as part of the efforts to regenerate the Ukrainian forces,” Macron said during a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Paris on Friday evening.
In addition, he noted that “all the equipment that was transferred (to Ukraine – IF-U), in particular, Scalp missiles, A2SM surface-to-air bombs, is what helped to change the situation in Ukraine on the battlefield.”
Macron also announced a project to organize the production of ammunition in Ukraine with the participation of a French company.
Later, at a press conference, answering media questions about the number of Mirage 2000 aircraft that France would be providing to Ukraine, Macron said: “I will not give you a number, nor partners, nor a figure, just to be effective.”
France will allocate 200 million euros to companies that will invest in the restoration of Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, with 60 million euros of these funds going to the Ukrainian energy sector, French President Emmanuel Macron said.
“We held a meeting at the level of the Reconstruction Fund and decided that new instruments will be created to accompany this reconstruction of Ukraine. An agreement has been signed on a 200 million euro fund that will be earmarked for those companies that will invest in Ukraine’s critical infrastructure to rebuild it,” Macron said during a joint press conference with Ukraine’s president in Paris on Friday evening.
At the same time, he said, 60 million euros from this fund will be directed to Ukraine’s energy sector and its priorities.
The French President also announced the decision to expand the mandate of the French Development Agency to support projects in Ukraine at the local level.
In particular, it was decided to second 20 French technical experts to various key ministries of Ukraine to witness the work on standardization.
On Friday, June 7, Emmanuel Macron and Volodymyr Zelenskyy will sign two agreements to provide Ukraine with €650 million in loans and grants, in particular to support local authorities and critical infrastructure, the Elysee Palace said on Wednesday, Le Monde reports.
The first agreement will reportedly provide the French Development Agency with “€400 million in loans and €50 million in grants until 2027” to “expand its activities in Ukraine” by providing support in the energy and transport sectors, in particular “to develop administrative capacity.”
The second agreement concerns the creation of a “support fund” for critical infrastructure, which will be invested with €200 million euros “to support French companies in future tenders (…) in the energy, transport, water and sanitation, health and agriculture sectors”.
It is noted that “these funds will be used to finance large projects, strengthen or replace failing energy infrastructure” as it is the object of special attention from Moscow.
France, India and Greece are openly arming Armenia, and Baku will take serious measures if the situation poses a threat to Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has said.
“We cannot just sit and wait. We have clearly communicated our position to the Armenian government and the parties that are trying to take care of Armenia today. If we see a serious threat to ourselves, we will have to take serious measures,” Aliyev said on Tuesday at a meeting in Baku with participants of the international forum “COP29 and Green Vision for Azerbaijan” organized at the ADA University.
The President noted: “France, India and Greece are openly arming Armenia and are trying to prove something to Azerbaijan in this way.
Earlier, the Experts Club think tank created a video analysis of the post-war situation in the Caucasus – https://youtu.be/reyUMjFBFhU?si=qpqLleFVqZJ30GuV
The volume of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the economy of mainland China in January-February 2024 decreased by 19.9% compared to the same period last year and amounted to 215.1 billion yuan ($30 billion), according to the Ministry of Commerce.
In particular, the inflow of foreign investment in the high-tech sector increased by 10.1% to 28.27 billion yuan.
At the same time, France’s foreign direct investment in China in January-February increased by 6.9 times in annual terms, Spain’s – by 5 times, Germany’s – by 2.4 times.
Over two months, 7.16 thousand new enterprises with foreign capital were registered in the country, which is 34.9% more than in January-February 2023, Xinhua reports.
“The 34.9% growth is the highest in the last five years. This indicates that multinationals are still optimistic about the development opportunities of the Chinese market,” a ministry spokesperson told the agency. – “Despite the decline in the volume of actually utilized FDI in the first two months, this is the third highest figure in the last ten years.
“At present, the favorable factors for attracting foreign investment in China outweigh the unfavorable ones, and the investment prospects are still bright,” the ministry representative added.
As reported, the volume of FDI in 2023 decreased by 8% and amounted to 1.13 trillion yuan.
France has increased defense spending, some of which will be invested in production in Ukraine, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the French Republic to Ukraine Gael Vesierre has said.
During the 16th annual Kyiv Security Forum founded by Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s Open Ukraine Foundation, the Ambassador noted that France’s defense spending exceeded 2% of GDP.
Regarding investments in defense, the diplomat stressed that investments are also needed to produce in Ukraine what the Ukrainian Armed Forces need.
“We say: if we can start such production in Ukraine, we should do it,” Vesier said.
He also called for supporting Ukraine to achieve victory.
“Let’s imagine for a second if Russia wins. It means that Russia can destroy a neighbor and the international community can do nothing in response. It means that many countries will say: we now need to join the nuclear club because our security is at risk. It will be a more risky and unstable situation than today,” the French diplomat emphasized.
The 16th annual Kiev Security Forum, organized to mobilize transatlantic support for Ukraine, is taking place March 21-22.
