France said that Paris and its allies were not at war with Moscow, in the context of the West simultaneously sending main tanks to Kiev.
“We are not at war with Russia, nor are our allies,” French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Anne-Claire Legendre said today.
Ms. Legendre stressed that “transfer of military equipment to Kiev does not constitute an act of joint war”, correcting German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock’s statement earlier that they are “waging a war against Russia, not a war against Russia.” against each other”.
French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Anne-Claire Legendre in an interview in April 2022. Photo: BFM TV.
France spoke out in the context of many Western countries recently announcing that they would transfer main tanks to Ukraine to deal with Russia. French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna arrived in Odessa today to meet her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba to discuss humanitarian and military aid.
The discussion could reveal the possibility of Paris supplying Leclerc main battle tanks to Kiev, after Washington and Berlin made similar commitments. Germany on January 25 said it would transfer 14 Leopard 2 main battle tanks in service to Ukraine, and at the same time approved the proposal of partner countries to re-export this type of tank to Kiev. The US on the same day announced it would send 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine.
So far, France has agreed to send a number of AMX-10 light tanks, but has not committed to sending the main tank Leclerc. Paris argues that the Leclerc, which has only about 200 units left and has been discontinued, unlike Germany’s Leopard, has 2,000 units across Europe.
Reuters Citing a source close to the French government, said Leclerc tanks require high maintenance, so it is difficult to create a logistics chain in Ukraine, so Paris “will only be able to supply a small quantity, without much impact. “. The French government said it is considering this request and will make a decision soon.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today that Russia considers commitments to aid tanks from the US and Europe as evidence of the West’s increasingly direct involvement in the Ukraine war. He also warned that “German tanks will burn up on the Ukrainian battlefield like the rest of Western weapons”.
The French Leclerc main battle tank participates in training at Romania’s Cincu range on December 8, 2022. Photo: AFP.
Duc Trung (Theo AFP, Reuters)