The Kremlin said on Tuesday that the delivery of French long-range missiles to Ukraine announced by Emmanuel Macron was a “mistake” that would force Russia to take “countermeasures” in the conflict in Ukraine.
On the first day of the NATO summit, the French president announced earlier that France would supply long-range “SCALP” missiles to Ukraine.
“We have decided to supply Ukraine with new missiles that will allow deep strikes,” Macron said on arrival at the summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. “I think it’s important for us today to send a message of support for NATO unity to Ukraine,” he added.
AFP
“In our view, this is a decision tainted by error, which will have serious consequences for the Ukrainian side, because naturally it will force us to take countermeasures,” a Kremlin spokesman told reporters. , Dmitry Peskov.
The Storm Shadow cruise missile, called SCALP by the French military, which is being jointly developed by the UK and France, is air-launched.
It has a range of more than 250 kilometers, more than any other weapon supplied to Kyiv by the West.
The missiles are capable of long-range strikes, reaching areas in eastern Ukraine controlled by Russian forces.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin on Tuesday said it was “very closely following” the NATO summit in Vilnius, condemning the gathering’s “strong anti-Russian character” and guaranteeing Ukraine’s aspirations to join the pact.
“This is undoubtedly an alliance summit, which has a strong anti-Russian character. Russia is seen as an enemy, an enemy, and discussions will take place from this perspective,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
We have learned from German government sources that Berlin will supply Ukraine with additional weapons worth nearly 700 million euros.
According to the same sources, Germany will provide, in particular, the Patriot anti-aircraft defense system, armored vehicles of the Marder type and missiles for the Cheetah 1A5 tanks and artillery shells.
Germany, the second-largest contributor in terms of military aid to Ukraine after the United States, had already announced arms supplies worth 2.7 billion euros on May 13, the day before President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit.
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Germany has long been criticized by Kiev and some of its European partners, particularly in the east, for the timid nature of its military support for Ukraine.
But over the months, Berlin has stepped up its efforts in this area: it now provides specific munitions, Panther tanks and anti-aircraft defenses.
He announced that the Norwegian government would increase military aid to Ukraine by 2.5 billion kroner (about 220 million euros) this year, bringing it to 10 billion kroner.
“The defensive war that Ukraine is waging… is being played out now. It is now that (help, editor’s note) is really needed,” Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Kahr said during a meeting with Stor Norwegian newspaper.
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The 2.5 billion sum will be taken from a multi-year envelope of 75 billion kroner that the Scandinavian country plans to allocate for civil and military aid to Ukraine for the period 2023-2027.
In effect, Oslo will allocate 10 billion kroner this year to military aid and 7.5 billion to civilian support, rather than the 7.5 billion initially planned for each of these two lines. This will put a corresponding strain on future Norwegian aid to Ukraine.
Mr. The store does not specify the nature of the equipment to be purchased.
