French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on Saturday (October 15) that President Macron has backed a proposal to train up to 2000 Ukrainian soldiers in the country.
“The president… has approved a training plan that will allow up to 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers to be welcomed in France,” he said.
“They will be assigned to our units for several weeks,” he said, adding that military training for the use of Caesar howitzers had previously been offered to Ukrainian soldiers.
“But now it’s a change of scale,” Lecornu said.
Lecornu said that France had delivered 18 Caesar howitzers so far to Ukraine. He added that talks to send six more were going on. In addition to this, France is also weighing on delivering ground-to-ground missiles.
He also pledged that France would provide Crotale short-range anti-air missiles, which are used to intercept low-flying missiles and aircraft.
“The number (of Crotales) is being determined with the Ukrainians, but it will be significant to allow them to defend their sky,” Lecornu said.
The aim is to complete the shipment of Crotales “within two months,” Lecornu said, taking into account the necessary training of Ukrainian soldiers.
(With inputs from agencies)
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