France's military aid to Ukraine in 2024 was less than "promised" earlier, - Le Monde
Date: 2024-10-15 Author: Кирило Загоруйко Categories: MILITARY ASSISTANCE
France's total military aid to Ukraine in 2024 will not reach the maximum amount of 3 billion euros, which was indicated in the bilateral agreement on security cooperation, which was concluded between the countries on February 16, said French Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu.
The amount by the end of the year will be just over 2 billion euros, while in 2022 it was 1.7 billion euros, and in 2023 - 2.1 billion euros, Le Monde writes.
Lecornu, addressing the deputies of the defense committee, noted that about 300 million euros of the total amount came "from income from frozen Russian assets." With this money, France finances the production of 155-mm shells, Caesar artillery systems and fuel. In addition, about 533 million euros in 2024 are reportedly going to donate old equipment from the French army, which will be replaced with new ones.
The French Minister of the Armed Forces also noted that the financing of aid to Ukraine also comes from the "inflation increase", which is estimated at 400-600 million euros this year. The media writes that this "income" occurs due to a slowdown in inflation compared to forecasts for a higher inflation rate.
"Another part of the aid comes from the Ukraine Aid Fund, which allows Kyiv to buy equipment directly from French industrialists or from the European Peace Fund (EFF)," the article says.
As Lecornu noted, France contributed 1.2 billion euros to this European Union instrument, but they "are beneficiaries, since 143 million euros were received by the [French Armed Forces] Ministry in 2024" in favor of Ukraine.
