French President Emmanuel Macron this Sunday acknowledged sending French Leclerc tanks to Ukraine, demanding that three conditions be met, including not escalating the conflict.
“I have asked the defense minister to work on this matter and nothing is excluded,” Macron said at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the end of the Franco-German cabinet meeting.
Macron underlined that the deployment of French armored vehicles would have to be vetted. Three conditions: This will not lead to an escalation of the conflict, the Ukrainian soldiers are in a position to use them and it will not affect the French defense capability.
The French leader said coordination work with other allies, including Germany, would continue “in the coming days and weeks” to decide what to do about Ukraine’s requests for heavy main battle tanks in the West.
The German chancellor expressed his willingness to provide Ukraine with “all necessary support” financial, humanitarian or armed as long as it is “necessary” and “with the necessary means” to fulfill the entire agreement between his country and France. .
“The common objective is for Russia to withdraw its forces from Ukraine,” the German leader said in joint statements with the French president after the ministerial meeting, and in the context of Ukraine’s pressure on Berlin to send German “Leopard2” tanks.
Asked if such tanks were in this availability, Scholz stressed that any decision on arms delivery would have to be made in “close consensus with friendly countries”, both European and American.
The German chancellor recalled that his country has until now maintained a rule regarding its arms exports, according to which these should not be sent to countries or regions in conflict, and with regard to Ukraine, the policy was maintained and built upon. “Response to a war of aggression” launched by Russia.
“We are providing Ukraine with Mortar and Gebhardt tanks, as well as air defense systems and Patriot batteries,” he said, stressing that any decision to use future weapons should be based on coordination among allies “as well as criteria such as needs and availability.” “.
The events marking the 60th anniversary of the Franco-German Council of Ministers and the Elysée Agreement came three days after a meeting of the contact group for Ukraine, held this Friday at the US base in Ramstein (Germany), in which no agreement was reached. In armor “Leopard 2”.
As for French armored vehicles, in recent days, several French military sources have told local media that they do not know how many AMX Leclerc units are likely to be available, as the roughly 200 in storage are being used as a source of components and spare parts. In addition, in service with the French Army.
There are suggestions in France that if the UK sends a squadron of 14 Challenger 2 tanks as promised, and if other Western countries continue to supply Ukraine with tanks of different models, the Ukrainians will face serious problems with training crews and maintaining each model. As well as managing the supply chain for spare parts.
Macron recalled that France has already provided Ukraine with substantial military equipment, including 18 Cesar self-propelled heavy artillery pieces, ammunition, anti-aircraft missiles and infantry fighting vehicles. Paris also announced the delivery of AMX 10 light reconnaissance tanks to Ukraine.
Summing up the day, Emmanuel Macron underlined the “great work” carried out with Olaf Scholes and said the two countries have a united position in Europe.
“We are united in our vision of Europe and our countries,” Macron said at the Elysée, at a Franco-German summit marked by efforts to ease tensions between Paris and Berlin over how to deal with the war in Ukraine from 2022.
“The return of war to our continent has made us understand how important it is to do things for ourselves as Europeans. We have been talking about security and we are committed to taking the necessary steps to strengthen our European security capabilities”. said the French President.
In this context, Macron welcomed the “progress made in recent weeks”, especially with regard to SCAF, the European program to develop fighter jets led by France, Germany and Spain.
Macron also underlined the importance of speeding up decisions at the European level, Scholz agreed.
The chancellor recognized that the EU “needs better decision-making mechanisms at the European level” to “gain influence in the world”.
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