France refused to join the initiative proposed by former US President Donald Trump, which provides for the purchase of US weapons by European allies in order to further transfer it to Ukraine. About it reports Politico.
As French officials explained, France's refusal is connected with the desire to develop its own defense-industrial base. President Emmanuel Macron has repeatedly emphasized that Europeans should build defense capability through domestic purchases, including national producers.
France, which has not been included in the list of six countries that support the US initiative (including the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the four countries of Northern Europe), is left to do with the new format of military assistance to Ukraine.
The French government in parallel is pursuing a policy of optimizing budget expenditures and restraining the state deficit, against which an increase in the defense budget is already a significant load.
The German government, on the contrary, supports the procurement of American weapons, considering it as one of the most transparent ways of enhancing Ukraine's defense capability - taking into account the limited capabilities of European producers in the short term.
The Czech Republic also takes a similar position in France. The government in Prague does not plan to participate in the Trump initiative, but instead focuses on alternative projects of assistance to Ukraine, in particular through initiative to supply ammunition.
