War in Ukraine: Paris to deliver more weapons to kyiv thanks to frozen Russian assets

France “recovered” 300 million euros in interest from frozen Russian assets to buy military equipment for Ukraine, the Minister of the Armed Forces announced in the Tribune on Sunday. Twelve new Caesar cannons can be delivered to kyiv.

“We are mobilizing the interests of frozen Russian assets to buy military equipment for Ukraine,” underlines Sébastien Lecornu in the newspaper. “France has recovered 300 million euros for the end of 2024 alone,” he said.

This amount made it possible “to order twelve new Caesar cannons which will be delivered to Ukraine, as well as 155 mm shells, Aster missiles, AASM guided bombs, firing points and Mistral missiles,” he said. he listed.

Sixty Caesar cannons have already been delivered to Ukraine and around 80 will be delivered by the end of 2024, the ministry reminded AFP.

The announcement of purchases of new equipment for kyiv comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hopes that the support of his allies will continue to stand against Russia. The two countries have been at war since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Plan “for victory”

Volodymyr Zelensky presented this week to his Western allies his plan “for victory”, supposed to put his country in a position of strength before any negotiations. “Certain aspects” of this plan “are interesting and deserve to be worked on and documented,” said the French Minister of the Armed Forces.

“Above all, this plan shows that Ukraine is preparing for possible negotiations. It’s up to us to help him sit down at the discussion table with a favorable balance of power,” he said. “Obviously, Russia will only respect the balance of power.”

“We must have one question in mind: what security guarantees can we provide to Ukraine? There is of course membership in NATO but also everything we can do to help Ukraine build a strong army, capable of lastingly discouraging Russia,” he also opined.

ATS