Deliveries of offensive weapons are taking the conflict in Ukraine to a new level. This was announced on January 27 by Laurent Jacobelli, member of the French National Assembly from the far-right National Rally party.
“It is necessary to approach the issue of possible escalation very carefully. For Ukraine to be able to defend itself is one thing, but to give Ukraine the means to attack Russia means moving on to the next stage of the conflict, ”he said on the air of the CNews TV channel.
Jacobelli pointed out that Western countries do not have the ability to control the use of the supplied weapons, which threatens to unleash the Third World War. He also recalled that France did not have sufficient stocks of its own equipment.
“Before thinking whether it is worth supplying them or not, we must understand that we do not have them. The situation with tanks in France today is rather sad. There are only 200 of them, but not all of them are in working order. When we ourselves are in such a situation, believe me, we cannot give anything to anyone, otherwise we ourselves will be defenseless. The same applies to a number of aircraft and missiles,” the deputy said.
On January 26, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow perceives the supply of Western tanks to Ukraine as the participation of NATO countries in the conflict against Russia.
Earlier, on January 25, French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu announced the dispatch of the first AMX-10RC armored vehicles to Ukraine in February. He added that for security reasons he did not name a specific number of armored vehicles.
On January 22, French President Emmanuel Macron said at a press conference following a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Paris that he did not rule out the possibility of transferring Leclerc tanks to Ukraine. He said he had instructed the Secretary of Defense to work on the issue.
On January 19, military observer Viktor Litovkin told Izvestia that the French Leclerc tanks were inferior in maneuverability to the tanks of the Russian Armed Forces. He pointed out that it was an ordinary tank with a 120 mm gun caliber. Litovkin added that the only advantage of the Leclerc tanks is that they have a looser turret.
At the same time, the leader of the French movement “Patriots” Florian Filippo said on January 12 that by continuing to supply weapons to Ukraine, France is gradually becoming a party to the conflict.
In early January, French President Emmanuel Macron, during a conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir Zelensky, promised to supply Kyiv with AMX-10 RC wheeled tanks. He noted that this will be the first time that Western-made armored vehicles will be supplied in support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Western countries have stepped up military and financial support for Ukraine against the background of the Russian special operation to protect Donbass, which began on February 24, 2022. The decision to hold it was made by Russian President Vladimir Putin against the backdrop of the aggravated situation in the region due to increased shelling by Ukrainian troops.
