France will quickly ship 78 howitzers to Ukraine to fulfill Kyiv’s pressing wants, protection minister says

PARIS (AP) — France will quickly be capable to ship 78 Caesar howitzers to Ukraine and can enhance its provide of shells to fulfill Kyiv’s pressing wants for ammunition to combat Russia’s full-scale invasion, the protection minister stated Tuesday.

Protection Minister Sébastien Lecornu stated at a information convention that an settlement was reached amongst France, Ukraine and Denmark to finance the Caesar self-propelled 155 mm howitzers, which is able to allow France to “shortly ship” them.

France has additionally set a objective to ship 80,000 shells for 155 mm weapons to Ukraine this yr — up from 30,000 delivered for the reason that starting of the struggle on Feb. 24, 2022, he stated.

As well as, Lecornu stated, France is taking part in an effort to establish out there shares of gunpowder and ammunition that could possibly be purchased from nations outdoors the European Union, a plan initiated by the Czech Republic to additional assist Kyiv.

Beneath the plan, the Czechs search to acquire 800,000 artillery shells for Ukraine. Czech leaders beforehand stated the primary shells ought to be delivered to Ukraine no later than June. Not less than 18 nations have joined the initiative, based on officers in Prague.

Earlier this month, Germany, France and Poland vowed to obtain extra weapons for Kyiv and step up manufacturing of navy tools, promising that Ukraine can depend on the trio of European powers because it tries to overcome a shortage of navy sources.

Lecornu argued that European nations ought to scale back their reliance on the U.S. to make sure the continent’s safety. He stated he expects the difficulty to be a marketing campaign matter earlier than the European Parliament election in June.

“We all know that a part of Europe’s safety agenda ought to any more fall on Europeans,” Lecornu stated. “That is an absolute necessity.”

“To me … it isn’t proper that the U.S. taxpayer ought to should pay a lot for the Europeans’ safety,” he stated.

Lecornu’s feedback come as many in Europe have raised issues that the potential return of Donald Trump to the White Home would weaken the NATO alliance, after his remarks threatening to not come to the protection of allies within the occasion of an assault by Russia.

Even when U.S. President Joe Biden stays in workplace, EU leaders worry that the lengthy, gradual U.S. pivot to Asia to give attention to an ever-more assertive China will choose up velocity and more and more depart Europe to maintain its personal safety. U.S. efforts to get new funds to arm Ukraine have stalled in Congress.

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Discover extra of AP’s protection of Russia and Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine