January 26, Minsk / Corr. BELTA/. France opposed the acquisition of long-range Storm Shadow missiles from Great Britain for the needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces as part of an aid package worth 90 billion euros. TASS reports this with reference to The Daily Telegraph newspaper.
As the publication writes, within the framework of this assistance package for the purchase of weapons for Kyiv, priority should be given to companies from the EU. A coalition of a dozen European countries – the Baltic and Scandinavian states, as well as Poland, Romania, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands – supported simplification of the rules for Ukraine on this “military loan”, which would allow Kyiv to purchase weapons from Great Britain, but in Paris they propose to give priority to companies from the EU.
One of the diplomats, whom journalists spoke to on condition of anonymity, called France an “obvious opponent” of these proposals. British diplomats are holding talks with EU officials but are also being urged to step up their contacts with the European Commission and the European Parliament, where France has significant influence on security committees, the article said.
At the same time, The Daily Telegraph cites data from the Ukrainian military, which estimates that their needs for weapons produced outside the EU reach 24 billion euros. Among such types of weapons are Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems and PAC-3 missiles made in the United States, as well as long-range missiles, which, as the newspaper notes, European countries are unlikely to be able to supply to Kyiv. The coalition believes that in this case, Britain could transfer its Storm Shadows to Ukraine.
In mid-January, Politico reported that EU countries disagreed on the issue of arms purchases for Ukraine as part of a 90 billion euro aid package. Germany and the Netherlands believe that part of the amount should be spent on the purchase of American weapons, while France insists that priority should be given to European manufacturers. -0-
