France will not fulfill its promise of €3 billion in aid to Ukraine in 2024 due to budget deficit
Due to the budget deficit, France will not be able to provide Ukraine with €3 billion in aid in 2024, as previously promised.
This was stated by French Defense Minister Sébastien Le Coronneu, Censor.NET reports citing Politico.
"In early 2024, a political decision was made that this assistance could reach 3 billion euros. In fact, we will exceed 2 billion euros, but not 3 billion euros," Lecornu said.
As the newspaper notes, French President Emmanuel Macron pledged to send a maximum of 3 billion euros earlier this year, part of an effort to boost French aid to Ukraine after Paris was criticized for doing less than other countries such as Germany.
In February, to secure long-term assistance for Ukraine, Paris and Kyiv signed a bilateral security agreement that officially pledged up to €3 billion in military support for this year. However, France now needs to reduce its budget deficit, which could reach 6% of GDP in 2024.
Lecorneuil told lawmakers that the Defense Ministry will not request additional funds at the end of the year for expenses related to NATO deployments in Estonia and Romania or for aid to Ukraine.
According to the French defense minister, the €300 million in aid to Ukraine comes from interest on frozen Russian assets and will be used to purchase 155 mm artillery ammunition, Caesar self-propelled howitzers, and fuel. Between 400 and 600 million euros will be received by reducing the inflation rate and used to upgrade SCALP and Aster missiles for Ukraine.
According to Politico, France provided €1.7 billion in military aid to Ukraine in 2022 and €2.1 billion in 2023, putting it behind European countries such as Germany, the United Kingdom, and Sweden.
