In an interview with French television station TF1 INFO on May 15, French President Emmanuel Macron stated that France would send missiles to Ukraine with sufficient range to defend against Russian assaults during the forthcoming Ukrainian counter-offensive.
The source added that France communicated information with Ukraine and the United Kingdom regarding the outcomes of all military assistance provided to Kyiv, particularly about long-range missiles.
Ukraine Counter-Offensive Weapons
The UK had provided Ukraine with cruise missiles capable of striking targets over 250 kilometers distant. UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace subsequently verified the report and emphasized Ukraine's sovereign right to defend its territory against the Russian invasion.
Storm Shadow, also known as SCALP, is a French-British air-to-ground missile manufactured by MBDA with a range of over 250 kilometers and a payload weight of 450 kilograms.
In a recent interview, when asked if SCALP missiles could be supplied to Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron reportedly responded, "We are investigating all options."
However, he specified that it is not currently scheduled. France and the United Kingdom devised the SCALP system in the 1990s.
Depending on the modifications, its range can be increased to 500 or even 700 kilometers. Per Ukrinform, France began contemplating transferring long-range missiles to Ukraine after the United Kingdom pledged.
Meanwhile, a renewed drive by the United Kingdom and the Netherlands to provide Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets has exposed the latest rift between Western allies who have repeatedly argued over dispatching powerful weapons of war, pitting the United States against some of its closest European allies.
Per NY Times, several European allies are willing to provide Ukraine with F-16s. However, the Biden administration, which must authorize any transfer of the expensive American-made aircraft, remains unconvinced that Ukraine requires the jets, a staple in many modern military arsenals.
According to a senior Ukrainian official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to candidly discuss a sensitive diplomatic matter, Washington's skepticism is so profound that Kyiv's pilots are not even permitted to train on the F-16s owned by European nations.
American reluctance to permit training would severely restrict the ability of a proposed new European coalition to assist Ukraine in acquiring and flying F-16s, whether in the current conflict or to protect against future aggressions by Moscow after the West withdraws its attention from the 15-month war.
A senior US official stated in Washington that the Biden administration hesitated to send Ukraine its F-16s partly because the plane's multimillion-dollar price tag would consume too much of the nation's already-depleted war budget.
The US official stated that the administration is more concerned with delivering other American weaponry to Ukraine in time for a counter-offensive against Russia and that the aircraft would not reach the battlefield for at least several months - presumably after the battle had already begun.
Russia-Ukraine War
Ukraine asserts that it has slain 200,000 Russian soldiers, marking a new low point. According to this staggering number, since the invasion on February 24, 2022, one of Vladimir Putin's soldiers has perished every three minuteThe precise numbers provided by Kyiv must be taken with a grain of salt, but Western intelligence concurs that the Russians have suffered horrifying losses.
Russia would have lost approximately 13,300 personnel per month, 3,250 per week, 450 per day, 20 per hour, or one every three minutes if there were 200,000 fatalities. The Sun reported that brutal trench warfare, street-by-street combat, and soldiers flooding into No Man's Lands have come to define the Ukraine conflict.
The bloody, muddy scenarios are not what many envisioned for 21st-century combat. Despite Putin's proclamation that his so-called "special military operation" would last only two weeks, the conflict lasted approximately 447 days.
According to the daily summary, 610 Russians were slain yesterday, totaling 200,590. Ukraine claims to have destroyed thousands of Russian vehicles and hundreds of aircraft since the invasion, indicating that Putin is losing more than just personnel in large numbers.
Again, the numbers must be viewed with skepticism. However, Putin was disgraced last week when his annual "Victory Day" ceremony - an opportunity for him to show off his military might - featured only one tank.
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