The Minister of Defense of France, Sebastien Lecornu, said that strategic partnerships are being prepared between French and Ukrainian defense enterprises to facilitate cooperation in the production of some equipment in Ukraine and to service equipment that has already been transferred.
Among the French companies involved in this cooperation are Delair (drone manufacturer) and Nexter-KNDS (Caesar self-propelled guns and 155-mm shells). Production is planned to begin this summer.
At the same time, France intends to expand its training program for Ukrainian soldiers, one aspect of Paris’s support for Kyiv, along with the transfer of equipment and financial aid. In total, France has trained almost 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers since the beginning of the war, including 8,800 in 2023.
In turn, the leader of the French Communist Party, Fabien Roussel, said that during a meeting with party leaders, President Emmanuel Macron stated that he could send troops to Ukraine if the front broke through to Odesa or Kyiv.