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France to train up to 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers

France will train up to 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers on its territory, Minister for the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu told Le Parisien newspaper in an interview on Saturday.

Published: 16 October 2022 08:03 CEST

A soldier of Ukraine's 5th Regiment of Assault Infantry fires a US-made MK-19 automatic grenade launcher towards Russian positions in the Donetsk region

A soldier of Ukraine's 5th Regiment of Assault Infantry fires a US-made MK-19 automatic grenade launcher towards Russian positions in the Donetsk region on October 12, 2022 amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. France has said it will train Ukrainian soldiers on its territory. Photo: Dave CLARK / AFP

The soldiers will “be taken into our units for several weeks”, he said, adding that there would be three levels of training: general combat, “specific needs outlined by the Ukrainians such as logistics” and then training on how
to use defence materiel furnished by Ukraine’s Western allies.

He said this would be done respecting rules, adding: “It will not be in a belligerent fashion because we are not at war. We are helping a country that is at war” with Russia.

France will also provide Ukraine with Crotale air defence systems, he said, without specifying how many.

The number is being “defined with the Ukrainians” he said, adding that it “will be significant to allow them to defend their skies”.

The minister said six more Caesar mobile artillery units could be supplied to Kyiv on top of the 18 already furnished, while the possibility of donating surface-to-surface missiles was also being looked into.

The Caesar can accurately strike targets more than 40 kilometres (25 miles) away.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday said Paris would deliver radars, systems and missiles to Ukraine.

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Macron warns 'mortal' Europe needs credible defence

He described Russia’s behaviour after its invasion of Ukraine as “uninhibited” and said it was no longer clear where Moscow’s “limits” lay.

Macron also sounded the alarm on what he described as disrespect of global trade rules by both Russia and China, calling on the European Union to revise its trade policy.

“Our Europe, today, is mortal and it can die,” he said.

“It can die and this depends only on our choices,” Macron said, warning that Europe was “not armed against the risks we face” in a world where the “rules of the game have changed”.

“Over the next decade… the risk is immense of (Europe) being weakened or even relegated,” he added, also pointing to the risk of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Macron returned to the same themes of a speech he gave in September 2017 months after taking office at the same location – the Sorbonne University in Paris – but in a context that seven years on has been turned upside down by Brexit, Covid and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Macron champions the concept of European strategic autonomy in economy and defence, arguing that Europe needs to face crises like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine without relying on the US.

He urged Europe to be more a master of its own destiny, saying in the past it was over-dependent on Russia for energy and Washington for security.

He said the indispensable “sine qua non” for European security was “that Russia does not win the war of aggression in Ukraine”.

“We need to build this strategic concept of a credible European defence for ourselves,” Macron said, adding Europe could not be “a vassal” of the United States.

He said he would ask European partners for proposals in the next months and added that Europe also needed its own capacity in cyberdefence and cybersecurity.

Macron said preference should be given to European suppliers in the purchase of military equipment and backed the idea of a European loan to finance this effort.

Macron also called for a “revision” of EU trade policy to defend European interests, accusing both China and the United States of no longer respecting the rules of global commerce.

“It cannot work if we are the only ones in the world to respect the rules of trade — as they were written up 15 years ago — if the Chinese and the Americans no longer respect them by subsidising critical sectors.”

Macron is, after Brexit and the departure from power of German chancellor Angela Merkel, often seen by commentators as Europe’s number one leader.

But his party is facing embarrassment in June’s European elections, ranking well behind the far-right in opinion polls and even risking coming third behind the Socialists.

The head of the governing party’s list for the elections, the little-known Valerie Hayer, is failing to make an impact, especially in the face of the high-profile 28-year-old Jordan Bardella leading the far right and Raphael Glucksmann emerging as a new star on the left.

Macron made no reference to the elections in his speech, even though analysts say he is clearly seeking to wade into the campaign, with his speech reading as a manifesto for the continent’s future.

“The risk is that Europe will experience a decline and we are already starting to see this despite all our efforts,” he warned.

“We are still too slow and not ambitious enough,” he added, urging a “powerful Europe”, which “is respected”, “ensures its security” and regains “its strategic autonomy”.

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