France will not be able to fulfill its promise and bring military aid to Ukraine to EUR 3 billion this year and will be able to allocate only more than EUR 2 billion.
This was stated by the Minister of the Armed Forces of France, Sébastien Lecornu, his words are quoted by Politico.
"It was politically decided at the beginning of 2024 that this aid could reach EUR 3 billion. In reality, we will be above EUR 2 billion, but not EUR 3 billion," the minister said.
The publication recalls that earlier this year, French President Emmanuel Macron promised to send a maximum of EUR 3 billion to Ukraine after the country came under fire for doing less than other Western countries, such as Germany.
As Politico writes, France is not the only country facing the problem of lack of budget funds.
In Germany, Europe's largest donor of military aid, politicians plan to halve aid to Ukraine next year to reduce costs.
There are also fears that the US will reduce its support for Kyiv if former President Donald Trump returns to the White House.
France's defense budget is expected to reach EUR 50.5 billion next year, one of the few budget items to be increased.
However, last Monday, October 14, minister Lecornu told lawmakers that the Defense Ministry would stop asking for extra money at the end of the year for contingencies related to NATO deployments in Estonia and Romania, or for aid to Ukraine.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on October 8, French Minister of Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu announced that Ukraine will receive French Mirage 2000 fighter jets in the first half of next year.
And at the end of September, it became known that France will train and equip one of the brigades of the Defense Forces of Ukraine.
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