France refuses to transfer weapons from its arsenals to Ukraine

France will cease direct arms supplies to Ukraine from its arsenals.

This information reported according to a statement made by the country’s Minister of Defense, Sébastien Lecornu, on the LCI channel.

“Currently, we are in negotiations with our Ukrainian colleagues to encourage Ukraine to purchase new howitzers using funds from a special fund so that French military no longer have to transfer weapons from their arsenals,” said the head of the defense ministry.

He recalled a recently published parliamentary report stating that France’s military assistance to Ukraine has already amounted to 3 billion euros. Additionally, Lecornu mentioned that 200 million euros were allocated from the budget to a special fund to support Kyiv. Ukraine can use these funds to purchase new weapons but only from French suppliers.

Lecornu also emphasized that Paris will focus on providing Kyiv with means of air defense, including combating drones, and supplying equipment for ground forces, including artillery and transportation. In particular, France has increased the production rate of self-propelled howitzers Caesar from two to six units per month. In total, Ukraine has received 49 such howitzers—30 French and 19 Danish, as reported by the country’s defense minister.

In his opinion, the time for negotiations between Ukraine and Russia has not yet come, and the Ukrainian counteroffensive is progressing slowly. Lecornu warned that the coming weeks on the front lines will be “critically important” as the approaching winter will change the nature of military operations.

“Continuing to provide assistance to Ukraine is the best thing we can do; it is what can give them a chance to achieve victory,” concluded Lecornu.

The French Minister of Defense had previously stated his desire to encourage Ukraine to purchase weapons directly from French manufacturers, pointing out that arms supplies from the country’s reserves are limited.

“If we want to hold on, we must be able to connect French manufacturers directly with the Ukrainian army. […] This is also an opportunity for the French industry,” emphasized Lecornu.