EEmmanuel Macron had called Volodymyr Zelenskyj on Wednesday evening. After talks with the President of Ukraine, Macron announced the delivery of AMX-10 RC armored reconnaissance vehicles to Ukraine. The message: France is stepping up its military aid to Ukraine. That didn’t come as a surprise for Berlin. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has been in close consultation with American President Joe Biden for weeks.
On Thursday they called each other, as reported in a joint press release in the evening. Result: Washington delivered Bradley-type armored personnel carriers to the Ukraine, Berlin Marder-type armored personnel carriers. The Ukrainian soldiers are trained on both systems.
In addition, Germany does the same for America and supplies Kyiv with a Patriot anti-aircraft battery. So Berlin and Washington are on the same line as Paris. But apparently the vote was not so close that Macron did not want to make his own announcement.
France’s Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said on Wednesday the announcements, which include the delivery of 20 Bastion armored personnel carriers, were “a sign of continued and increased military support”. Macron had previously pledged in his New Year’s speech that he wanted to help Ukraine “until victory”.
“We admire you! Your struggle to defend your nation is heroic and inspires us. In the new year, we will stand by your side without becoming weak,” Macron said to the Ukrainians. The announcements also follow a visit by Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu to Kyiv. He is to set the schedule for tank deliveries in consultation with his Ukrainian counterpart.
The tanks are still needed
Macron has not yet said how many tanks France wants to deliver. There were voices from the army that sufficient stocks in France must be ensured. The AMX-10RC will be phased out but will be needed until 2030. In any case, Macron is much more concerned with the signal that Paris is sending out at the beginning of a new year of war. The French President stressed that it was the first time that Ukraine received “French-made light main battle tanks”.
Behind this is the desire to break down the inhibition threshold for the delivery of western armored systems. In Paris, attention was paid to how Chancellor Scholz warned against going it alone. Explaining the significance of the announcement, Zelenskyy said: “This sends a clear signal to all our partners: There is no rational reason why Western-style tanks have not yet been delivered to Ukraine.”
With the promise, France also covered up the misery of the Leclerc tanks. Due to the changed threat situation, the French army has relied more on light, mobile tanks for years and saved on the modernization of the Leclerc heavy battle tanks. Their production was discontinued in 2008. According to research by defense specialist Jean-Dominique Merchet, only about 226 Leclerc tanks remain operational. Stocks of spare parts are low. All of this speaks against delivering Leclerc tanks to Ukraine.