Expected in Prague this Tuesday March 5, Emmanuel Macron should take the opportunity to reassure his allies after recent ambiguous statements on a potential Western intervention in Ukraine, and instead announce the purchase of munitions outside the European Union within the framework of the plan to renew support for kyiv. At the same time, more than 42 countries, including those in the EU, are demanding an investigation from Russia into the death last week of the famous opponent of Vladimir Putin, Alexeï Navalny.
Information to remember
⇒ No “logic of escalation” according to Macron
⇒ Paris should clarify its support for a Czech initiative to purchase non-European munitions for Ukraine
⇒ 43 countries call for investigation into Navalny’s death
No “logic of escalation” according to Macron
This is the time for the French president to clarify his remarks and reassure his allies. Emmanuel Macron is going to Prague this Tuesday, March 5, to decide on his support for a Czech initiative which would make it possible to purchase non-European munitions for Ukraine.
The goal for the French president is above all to dispel fears, after his controversial comments on the possibility of sending Western troops to support the Ukrainian army. The French president once again affirmed Monday evening that he refused “to enter into a logic of escalation”, during an interview with the Czech daily Well done.
The Czech initiative on munitions from outside the EU
This is a reassuring signal that Paris and Prague should jointly send this Tuesday. Under the leadership of France, which tends to take the lead in supporting Kiev, more than 25 countries, mainly European, must now detail new solutions to strengthen the military support provided to Ukraine.
It is within this framework that a 2024-2028 action plan for the bilateral strategic partnership will be signed between France and the Czech Republic, which proposed a week ago to purchase some 800,000 munitions outside the EU to avoid the shortages suffered by the Ukrainian army on the battlefield by delivering to them in the coming weeks. Around 1.38 billion euros would be needed, according to the Financial Times. The Netherlands has already announced 100 million euros in support, while France has not quantified its participation. This could be the case today.
Moscow denounces Western “direct involvement”
Moscow denounced Monday the “direct involvement” of Westerners in Ukraine after the leak on social networks on Friday, March 1, of exchanges between German officers on possible deliveries of weapons to Kiev for strikes against Russian targets. In this conversation, the participants talk in particular about the hypothesis of supplying Kiev with long-range German-made Taurus missiles, what would be necessary for Ukrainian forces to use them and their possible impact.
These exchanges, the authenticity of which was confirmed by German authorities, show “once again the direct involvement of the collective West in the conflict in Ukraine”, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri told the press. Peskov. Their distribution on social networks “is a transparent attempt by the Russians to sow discord” among Westerners, for his part denounced a White House spokesperson, John Kirby.
2.6 billion in French aid to Ukraine
France has delivered to Ukraine a total of 2.6 billion euros of military equipment since 2022, French Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu said on Monday on X, detailing this equipment, while Paris is regularly accused of do less than other Kiev allies.
In a security agreement signed with Ukraine on February 16 in Paris, France also committed to providing “up to 3 billion euros” in “additional” military aid to kyiv in 2024. According to the Kiel Institute, which places France in 16th place in its ranking (before its latest aid), France has promised 640 million in military aid compared to 17.7 billion euros on the German side.
According to the Minister of the Armed Forces who criticizes the work of the Kiel Institute, France is also contributing 1.2 billion euros to the European Peace Facility (EFF), created by Brussels to finance arms supplies to Ukraine and missions abroad. Ukrainian Defense Minister Roustem Oumerov deplored at the end of February that half of the Western weapons promised to kyiv were delivered late.
43 countries call for investigation into Navalny’s death
Around forty countries, including those members of the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, launched a joint call on Monday for an international investigation into the death of Russian opponent Alexeï Navalny, which they blame ultimate responsibility lies with President Vladimir Putin. “We are outraged by the death of opposition politician Alexei Navalny, whose ultimate responsibility lies with President Putin and the Russian authorities,” EU Ambassador Lotte Knudsen told the Human Rights Council. man in Geneva.