France proposes to train up to 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers amid Russia-Ukraine war

French Minister of Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu announced on October 15, Saturday that President Emmanuel Macron has backed his proposal for training Ukrainian soldiers amid the recent escalations of the Russia-Ukraine war. Sebastien Lecornu told Le Parisien newspaper in an interview on Saturday, that as per the plan, "up to 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers will be welcomed in France."

Ukrainian soldiers to be assigned to French units for several weeks

Lecornu told Le Parisien that the Ukrainian soldiers will “be taken into our units for several weeks". He added that the training will cover "specific needs outlined by the Ukrainians such as logistics" and also help Ukrainian soldiers to combat defence material provided by Western allies.

The Defence Minister also said that the training will take place simultaneously while respecting rules and underlined, "It will not be in a belligerent fashion because we are not at war. We are helping a country that is at war” with Russia.

France to furnish Ukraine with air defence systems

The French Defence Minister also announced that France will supply Ukraine with Crotale air defence systems, saying that the systems "will be significant to allow them to defend their skies”, though he did not specify the number. "The number (of Crotales) is being determined with the Ukrainians, but it will be significant to allow them to defend their sky," Lecornu said.

The Minister added that while they were looking into the possibility of donating surface-to-surface missiles, on top of the 18 Caesar mobile artillery units that are already delivered, six more units could be supplied to Ukraine. The Caesar can supposedly strike targets more than 25 miles (40 kilometers away).

This comes after Ukraine's Defence Ministry posted a video gently chiding France for not supplying enough weaponry ever since the onset of the Russia-Ukraine War even after repeated reminders. “Romantic gestures take many forms,” images on the 41-second video shared by the Ministry read.

Previously the Ukrainian President had called for a G-7 meeting to request the West for help so that Ukraine could "protect its skies". On Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would deliver missiles and radar systems to Ukraine.