France to train up to 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers: Defense minister

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French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said, as quoted by French newspaper Le Parisien on Saturday, that French President Emmanuel Macron has agreed to train a large number of Ukrainian soldiers in the country.

“The president... has approved a training plan that will allow up to 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers to be welcomed in France,” he said.

“They will be assigned to our units for several weeks,” he added, stressing that “military training for the use of Caesar howitzers had previously been offered to Ukrainian soldiers”.

“But now it’s a change of scale,” Lecornu said.

The minister stated that France had already delivered 18 Caesar howitzers to Ukraine and that talks were underway to send six more. 

In addition, France is considering delivering ground-to-ground missiles, according to Lecornu.

He also promised to supply Crotale short-range anti-air missiles, which are used to intercept low-flying missiles and aircraft.

“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 goal is to complete the Crotales shipment "within two months," according to Lecornu, taking into account the necessary training of Ukrainian soldiers.

Macron stated, on Wednesday, that France will deliver radar and air defense systems to Ukraine in the coming weeks, claiming that the package aims “to assist Ukraine in protesting drone and missile attacks”.

In a contradictory statement, French President Emmanuel Macron underlined, in early September, during a speech to French ambassadors at the Elysee presidential palace that France should do everything to ensure that Ukraine and Russia return to the table of negotiations as soon as both sides are ready to do so.

Macron noted that a respectful dialogue with Russia is effective and allows it to achieve results.

However, it seems that France is not practicing what it preaches, further fueling the war in Ukraine with lethal weapons.

This is happening as Petrol stations in France are running dry after energy employees on strike have disrupted the supply. Macron has urged for calm in the now anxious government as dissatisfaction grows among motorists, businesses, and others, and the police forces are deployed to impose a cap on French nationals trying to fill up their tanks and to maintain security as mayhem spreads across the country. 

Chaos making the government anxious

A group of teenagers raided a gas station Last Monday in Paris's Val-d'Oise department and sold fuel under their own terms. Several outraged motorists alerted police after the youngsters grabbed possession of the TotalEnergies petrol station.

According to local media sources, the teens charged inhabitants of the region the standard price for fuel while charging individuals from other locations a higher price. At the scene, police apprehended a man in his twenties and are looking for another person who robbed the petrol station and fled.

Despite the government's demand to terminate the ongoing refinery strikes, employees voted to keep them running on Tuesday.

Further strike action is expected in the coming days, creating further unrest in the now anxious country. 

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