France and Germany agree to strengthen air defense of Ukraine

Photo: France and Germany agreed to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense (twitter.com/BMVg_Bundeswehr)

France and Germany agreed to create a coalition to support Ukrainian air defense within the Contact Group on the Defense of Ukraine, according to the French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu and the German Ministry of Defense.

As the French Ministry of Defense said, Minister Lecornu, together with German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, launched a coalition in support of Ukraine’s air defense at a meeting of the Contact Group on the Defense of Ukraine. Danish and Belgian colleagues also joined the coalition.

“After the launch of the artillery coalition, today, together with Boris Pistorius, we are launching the air defense support coalition for Ukraine,” Lecornu wrote on Twitter.

At the same time, the German Ministry of Defense noted that the declaration will increase the effectiveness of air defense support in Ukraine and is intended to facilitate procurement.

Relations between Ukraine and France

In early July 2023, the G7 countries approved a declaration promising to provide security guarantees to Ukraine. More than 30 countries, including France, have already joined it.

Britain became the first country to sign an agreement with Ukraine. On January 17, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that Paris plans to sign a security agreement with Ukraine, as London did.

At the same time, the French president announced his intention to visit Ukraine in February. During the visit, a bilateral agreement on security guarantees between the countries is expected to be signed.

In addition, in January of this year, the French Minister of Defense Sebastien Lecornu announced the production and transfer to Ukraine of more than 70 Caesar artillery installations.

Ramstein-19

On February 12, the mass media reported that the head of the Pentagon, Lloyd Austin, canceled his visit to Brussels due to urgent hospitalization.

As part of his visit, he was to personally chair a meeting of the Contact Group on Defense of Ukraine in Brussels. The 70-year-old head of the Pentagon was hospitalized for bladder problems.

Later, it became known that Austin planned to take part in the meeting of the Contact Group on the Defense of Ukraine, despite his urgent hospitalization.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Charles Brown and Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security at the Pentagon Celeste Wallander will also participate in Ramstein from the American side.

We also reported that the meeting will include a coalition report on the transfer of F-16s to the Ukrainian military.

RBC-Ukraine has collected everything that is currently known about the Ramstein-19 meeting.