France to provide new missiles, used armored vehicles to Ukraine, defense minister says

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France will send new surface-to-air missiles and old armored vehicles to Ukraine, the country’s defense minister said on Sunday. 

Sébastien Lecornu told La Tribune Dimanche that President Emmanuel Macron had asked him to design a “new aid package” to help Kyiv defend against Russia’s invasion.

This will “notably include old equipment from our armies, which is still functional,” he said. “To hold such a long frontline, the Ukrainian army needs, for example, our armored vehicles — this is absolutely key for troop mobility and is part of Ukraine’s requests.” 

Asked how many vehicles France would provide, Lecornu said: “We’re talking in the hundreds for 2024 and early 2025.” 

He said France would also provide a “new batch of Aster 30 missiles” to Ukraine.“We are also developing remotely operated munitions in a very short timeframe, for delivery to the Ukrainians as early as this summer,” he said. 

Russia continued hitting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure on Sunday.