The team of the French leader Emmanuel Macron in 2024 will fall short of its original plan regarding the amount of military aid to Ukraine and will still not reach the mark of 3 billion euros. The main reason is the budget deficit.
Points of attention
- The participation of France and Germany in the volume of financial and military support for Ukraine decreased due to the deficit of the countries' budgets.
- Paris provided Kiev with about 300 million euros in military aid from the proceeds of frozen Russian assets for the purchase of military equipment and weapons.
Ukraine will not be able to count on the entire volume of aid from France
As mentioned earlier, the head of the republic publicly promised to increase military aid for Ukraine to 3 billion euros.
His decision came amid widespread criticism that official Paris was doing less than many other countries.
What is important to understand is that the amount "up to 3 billion euros" appeared, in particular, in the bilateral security agreement.
At the beginning of 2024, we made a political decision that aid could reach 3 billion euros. In practice, we will exceed 2 billion, but will not reach 3 billion euros, — said the head of the Ministry of Defense, Sébastien Lecornu.
Why has the support of Ukraine from Paris and Berlin decreased?
Journalists draw attention to the fact that not only France, but also Germany had to reduce the cost of financial and military aid to Ukraine, which has been restraining Russian aggression for more than 10 years.
The teams of Emmanuel Macron and German leader Olaf Scholz made these decisions in an effort to reduce the budget deficit, which could reach 6% of its GDP in 2024.
According to Lecornu, about 300 million euros of military aid for Ukraine is paid from the income from frozen Russian assets.
These funds will be used for the purchase of 155 mm artillery shells, Caesar self-propelled guns and fuel. 400-600 million will be generated by lower inflation rates and will go towards the modernization of SCALP and Aster missiles for Ukraine, the publication says.
