France will not be able to provide Ukraine with the promised €3bn due to budget deficit

French Defence Minister Sebastian Le Coronneu said that France would not be able to provide €3bn in aid to Ukraine in 2024, as previously promised, due to the budget deficit.

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"At the beginning of 2024, there was a political decision that this aid could reach 3 billion euros. In fact, it will be more than €2 billion, but not €3 billion," the Defence Minister said.

In February, Presidents Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Emmanuel Macron signed a bilateral security agreement that provided up to €3 billion in aid to Ukraine in 2024.

However, according to Politico, France was forced to reduce this spending due to an expected budget deficit that could reach about 6% of GDP in 2024.

The French Defence Minister said that additional spending on assistance to Ukraine would not be approved by the parliament by the end of the year. About €300 million of military aid is to be received from frozen Russian assets, which will be used to purchase 155 mm shells and Caesar self-propelled artillery systems.

Another 400-600 million euros saved due to lower inflation will be used to modernise SCALP and Aster missiles for Ukraine.

Source: Politico