(Newsmax) By By John Irish and Michel Rose | Wednesday, 12 October 2022 10:19 PM EDT
While French President Emmanuel Macron has promised France will soon deliver more cannons, radars, and anti-aircraft missiles to support Ukraine, he said France is not going to launch a nuclear strike if Vladimir Putin uses nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
“Our doctrine rests on the fundamental interests of the nation,” Macron told France 2 on Wednesday. “They are defined clearly and wouldn’t be directly affected at all if, for example, there was a ballistic nuclear attack in Ukraine, in the region.”
Macron told France 2 television Wednesday evening that France is working with Denmark to send an additional six Caesar self-propelled howitzers cannons — which had initially been produced for the Danish military. Paris already delivered 18 similar Caesar cannons to Kyiv.
France will also send “anti-aircraft systems and missiles” to help protecting the country from drone and missile attacks in the coming weeks, he said.
Macron insisted several times on the need for peace talks between the two countries.
Russian President Vladimir Putin must “end the war, respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity and get back to the discussion table,” he said, adding he will speak to the Russian president “every time it will be necessary.”
“I hope as soon as possible, we will need all parties to get back to the discussion table and there will be peace discussions with, on the one side, Ukraine, and on the other side, Russia,” he said.
Asked about whether he thinks Ukraine will be willing to negotiate with Russia, he said “negotiating does not mean giving up.”
A wave of attacks on Ukrainian cities this week has raised the stakes, with Kyiv demanding its partners provide more supplies, including air defense systems — something Paris has been unwilling to do so far.
“This is a new phase of bombing coming from land, sea, air and drones against essential infrastructure and civilians,” Macron said.
Paris has previously supplied Mistral shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine. A source aware of the matter said Paris would provide Crotale short-range anti-air missiles, which are used to intercept low-flying missiles and aircraft.
Ukraine’s defense ministry posted a video on social media Wednesday aimed at giving France a gentle nudge to show its love through weapon supplies after repeated criticism that Paris has not been doing enough.
It was not clear whether Wednesday’s announcement would change the perception France is not doing enough militarily.
“We cannot deliver as much as the Ukrainians ask for because we need to keep some to protect our eastern flank,” he said. “We are protecting our national territory.”
Macron repeated he had agreed with Denmark to divert six Caesars howitzer canons it had ordered to Ukraine. The technical details of that transaction have yet to be confirmed, diplomats have said.
France’s defense ministry announced Tuesday that it was boosting its support on NATO’s eastern flank by sending more tanks to Romania, Rafale fighter jets to Lithuania and infantry to Estonia. It said nothing about Ukraine.
“We are preparing to spend the winter in this context of war,” Macron said.
Material from The Associated Press and Reuters was used in this report.
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