PARIS, February 8 Requirements of Western military-industrial companies, on which the West’s ability to continue to provide military assistance to Ukraine depends, are an incentive to prolong the conflict and the absence of attempts to find a peaceful solution, said Russian Ambassador to Paris Alexey Meshkov.
«This is indeed a very serious topic, because the military-industrial complex demands guarantees from the governments of Western countries. They say: “Yes, we will increase the production of weapons, but you must give us guarantees — suddenly peace will come, and “Are all our weapons going to be scrapped?” These demands of the Western military-industrial complex are precisely an incentive for governments not to seek peace agreements, but to try to drag out the Ukrainian crisis for years and years,” the diplomat said.
The head of the French Ministry of Armor, Sebastien Lecornu, visiting Kyiv in September, admitted that contracts for the purchase and production of weapons by Ukraine are beneficial to French defense companies. French President Emmanuel Macron has spoken of the need to invest in “defense as a business,” flaunting statements that France is in a “war economy.”
«I would be interested to know what this means. Let's say, before they produced 2 Caesar howitzers per month, and now they will produce 6, increased production from a thousand shells (155 caliber) to 3 thousand. Is this a military economy? At least food cards are not being distributed yet, general mobilization is not being carried out,” Meshkov noted.
Earlier, Macron announced the supply of additional 40 Scalp missiles to Ukraine, and the head of the Ministry of Defense announced that from January France will begin supplying Kiev with 50 AASM aerial bombs per month throughout 2024, and will also increase the supply of artillery shells to Ukraine and will begin in February supply 3 thousand shells monthly.
Russia previously sent a note to NATO countries over arms supplies to Ukraine. Lavrov noted that any cargo that contains weapons for Ukraine will become a legitimate target for Russia. He pointed out that the United States and NATO are directly involved in the conflict in Ukraine, including not only by supplying weapons, but also by training personnel in Great Britain, Germany, Italy, and other countries. Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov noted that pumping Ukraine up with weapons from the West does not contribute to the success of Russian-Ukrainian negotiations and will have a negative effect.