Ukraine's allies to form coalition to supply medium and long-range missiles
Paris, France (Svidomi) — During a meeting in Paris, February 26, European leaders agreed to create a coalition to supply long-range missiles, French President Emmanuel Macron told a press conference, Le Monde reports.
As you know, France has supplied several long-range missiles. We have also decided to give new impetus to the missile defence coalition, which the Ukrainian president has called for, and to create a ninth coalition tonight, a coalition for long-range strikes, and therefore for medium and long-range missiles and bombs,
Macron explained.
As stated by the President, France will gather all those who have the relevant capabilities and are ready to provide new equipment. Macron also supported Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas' proposal to create a special fund to "finance joint military initiatives in support of Ukraine."
Emmanuel Macron acknowledged that the provision of one million shells to Ukraine "was a reckless commitment" on the part of the EU. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Kyiv had received only 30% of the promised shells.
The reality is that in the very short term, you can only provide the ammunition that you have in stock or that you produce in time. It's clear that we didn't have that million rounds of ammunition,
Macron said.
The Czech Republic offered to buy ammunition for Ukraine outside Europe. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala has said that about 15 countries are ready to join this initiative.
The Czech proposal is fully in line with what we have done in terms of artillery. We have asked non-EU countries to find a solution. We will participate in this initiative. We are completely open to it. Our only goal is efficiency,
the French president said.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that the Netherlands would allocate over 100 million euros to " provide hundreds of thousands of artillery shells to Ukraine as soon as possible".
The French president also commented on the possibility of deploying Western ground troops in Ukraine, Le Monde writes.
Today there is no consensus on the official, foreseeable and approved deployment of ground troops. But in the dynamics, nothing can be ruled out. We will do everything necessary to prevent Russia from winning this war,
Emmanuel Macron said.
At the same time, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the La France Insoumise (Unconquered) party, called possible intervention in the war against Russia "madness," and Olivier Faure, first secretary of the Socialist Party, condemned "alarming presidential frivolity."
Answering questions from journalists on the agenda of the meeting held in Paris, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte assured that sending ground troops was not on the list.
In addition, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico says that several NATO and EU member states are considering sending soldiers to Ukraine on a bilateral basis, Reuters reports. He did not name the sources of his assumptions, and assured that Slovakia would not consider such a possibility.
It will be recalled that the German Chancellor Olaf Scholtz stated that "Germany will not become a party to the war - neither directly nor indirectly".
