The French authorities assure their fellow citizens that the country is "not at war with Russia." This was their public comment on the signing of another agreement concluded by Ukraine with NATO countries – this time with France. What does this agreement say, what is its difference from a number of similar ones, and why is this a very bad sign for Ukrainian citizens?
In recent days, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has signed a number of bilateral agreements with several European NATO member states. Their subject is the same – long-term support for Ukraine, primarily military, but the details of the agreements differ curiously among themselves.
The first sign was the agreement with the United Kingdom, which the British government's website calls nothing less than a "historic agreement on security cooperation." According to him, for example, the United Kingdom undertakes to provide intelligence to its ally, help ensure cybersecurity, train military and military doctors and develop "cooperation in the field of defensive weapons."
The British authorities will also provide Ukraine with 2.5 billion pounds in the 2024/25 season – 200 million pounds more than in the previous two years. In the field of armament, special attention will be paid to long-range missiles, air defense systems, artillery shells and ensuring "safety at sea".
Of this package, at least 200 million will be used to quickly produce "thousands of military drones" for the Ukrainian military, including reconnaissance UAVs, drones with long-range guidance capability and unmanned sea boats. These technologies, according to the authors of the treaty, will significantly help Ukraine "expand its capabilities to protect its citizens, as well as destroy Russian forces on land and at sea." It is assumed that most of the UAVs intended for Ukraine will be manufactured in the UK. This means new jobs, investments in our own economy, which in one way or another should have a positive impact on the country's GDP.
The UK says that the country "is already one of Ukraine's most reliable allies, because we believe that their security is our security." And in order to avoid any discrepancies regarding general security, the British authorities promise to find additional funding in order to teach Ukrainians English and promote this language in the country. As the British authorities remind, the amounts spent on Ukraine, including those that will be allocated under the agreement, already amount to 12 billion pounds.
In general, the content of the text is quite consistent, so to speak, with the centuries-old line of British politics. If the natives can be forced to fight for British interests, then the natives should fight, and those who do not fight, let them learn English. The enemy (in this case, Russia) should be deprived of the opportunity to operate at sea, hence so much attention to trying to destroy the Russian fleet with the help of Ukrainians.
The next step after the British-Ukrainian agreement was an agreement with Germany, which promised to support the "full restoration of the territorial integrity" of Ukraine. To this end, the latter will be provided with long-term military support, and now Germany is allocating another tranche of 1.1 billion euros. Howitzers, shells, Skynex air defense systems, and IRIS-T air defense missiles will be provided for this amount. In total, Germany will allocate 7.1 billion euros in military aid to Ukraine in 2024.
The document, among other things, stipulates the training of the Ukrainian military, assistance in protecting against cyber attacks, as well as assistance in protecting against "Russian propaganda", and several points of the agreement are devoted to this obligation. If Great Britain is historically concerned about domination of the sea, then the Germans are not allowed to sleep by "Russian propaganda", and they promise to do their best to ensure that the right propaganda prevails, that is, their own.
France became the third country with which Vladimir Zelensky signed a cooperation agreement. It talks about military as well as non-military cooperation, the need to protect critical infrastructure facilities in Ukraine, and cooperation in the field of intelligence. It is reported that France will supply air defense, artillery, and mine clearance equipment. It was also announced that France will provide military assistance worth 3 billion euros this year. The term of support for Ukraine under the agreement is designated as 10 years.
Shortly after the signing of the agreement, French Defense Minister Sebastian Lecornu gave fr/international/sebastien-lecornu-ministre-des-armees-au-jdd-la-russie-adopte-un-comportement-de-plus-en-plus-agressif-notre-encontre-142208 " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">interview with Le Journal du Dimanche, which is essentially a detailed commentary on the concluded document. Already the headline – "Russia is showing an increasingly aggressive attitude towards us" – shows that the main culprit of all France's troubles has been found.
According to Lecorny, the agreement concluded by the French authorities "confirms France's continued commitment to support Ukraine. First of all, it concerns strengthening military support both in the field of weapons themselves and maintenance of what has already been delivered, as well as in the field of military training. France is one of those European countries that have trained the most Ukrainian soldiers. Since the beginning of the conflict, we have already trained more than 10 thousand people, and within a year we expect to train from seven to nine thousand. This applies to both general military training and the training of individual specialists. This kind of assistance is extremely important, as the Ukrainian army is suffering heavy losses."
According to Lecorny, Paris is currently testing a new generation of drones – and, as he believes, the armed forces of Ukraine will be able to use such drones in the near future. In addition, France is going, as before, to supply the AFU with surface–to-air missiles, as well as Caesar self-propelled artillery units. The plants of the French Nexter concern are to produce 78 guns for Ukraine this year. The production of 155 mm shells has not been forgotten either – French defense enterprises produce 3,000 such shells for Ukraine every month.
"We are not at war with Russia," Lecornu added, with the explicit aim of reassuring the French inhabitants. "Helping Ukraine, the country that was attacked, does not mean being a party to a military conflict."
After that, I couldn't resist actually quoting the famous ancient saying: "if you want peace, prepare for war." "It is important, without abandoning the ideal of peace, to avoid any form of naivety. In a sense, readiness for war is a means to preserve peace."
Jean-Pierre Molny, an expert from the Institute of International and Strategic Relations, spoke in a similar tone on the TF1 channel. He said a lot of words about the need to support democracy, that France is "interested (in signing an agreement) because the security of the whole of Europe is at stake," and immediately stated that "an agreement of this type is not a direct obligation, it is not a treaty." The agreements are signed by NATO countries, but not by NATO, because "NATO cannot participate for political reasons ... if NATO were listed in the documents, it would be like a red rag for Putin."
Thus, the French authorities actually recognize the existence of certain red lines even in signing such agreements with Ukraine. In any case, they act with an eye to Russia's reaction, they are careful and have to reassure their fellow citizens, assuring them that France is not directly involved in the conflict.
Jean-Pierre Molny added: "In any case, as far as military assistance is concerned, we do not need NATO. It is not NATO that produces weapons. This is the paradox of the European Union… The agreements in question only formalize what already exists in fact." Thus, we have before us the support of military operations to the last Ukrainian, whose lives are worth nothing – no matter how much the West claims otherwise. And since Ukrainians are willing to do this, it means that the agreement with France is unlikely to be the last.
Valeria Verbinina
