France Allocates New €200 Million Military Aid Package for Ukraine
The French government will replenish the support fund for Ukraine by 200 million euros to enable the Ukrainian side to continue purchasing French military equipment.
This was reported by Le Monde with reference to French Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu.
"You voted in favour of an amendment in the committee that opens up a new €200 million for the support fund for Ukraine. This will allow us to move to a new strategy for the acquisition of new equipment for the Ukrainian army," Lecornu said addressing the National Assembly.
According to the French minister, the budget bill, being currently discussed in the French parliament, includes additional assistance to Ukraine.
It is worth noting that in July 2023, the French Parliament announced its intention to increase spending on the 2024-2030 country's defence budget by almost 40%, including due to the war of aggression in Ukraine launched by Russia.
The expansion of the defence budget also includes assistance to Ukraine. The French defence budget is expected to increase by at least €3.3 billion next year.
The day before, it also became known that the oldest French firearms manufacturer Verney-Carron signed a contract with the Ukrainian state-owned company Ukrspecexport for a record amount of 36 million euros. The contract provides for the supply of ten thousand assault rifles, two thousand high-precision rifles and another 400 grenade launchers.
Earlier, The Gaze reported that the United States is also sending new aid to the Ukrainian military worth $425 million.
Furthermore, the day before, key officials in the administration of US President Joe Biden called on Congress to support the allocation of $11.8 billion in budget support to Ukraine.
In total, since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the United States has provided about $44.2 billion in military aid. At the same time, the European Union has allocated about $27 billion in military aid over the same period.