France to supply 6 CAESAR howitzers to Ukraine

Paris: A total of six self-propelled howitzers CAESAR, which Paris promised to Kiev last month, are on their way to Ukraine, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said on Tuesday.
“Six CAESAR self-propelled artillery systems, which the President of the Republic [Emmanuel Macron] announced on June 16, are on their way to Ukraine,” Colonna said during a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee at the Senate.
As part of his visit to Kiev on June 16, Macron announced that France would ship six 155mm CAESAR howitzers in addition to the 12 units Paris had already supplied to Ukraine.
On February 24, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian forces. The Russian Defense Ministry said the operation is targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure only and the civilian population is not in danger.
In response, the United States and its allies launched comprehensive sanctions against Russia and boosted military assistance for Ukraine, including lethal weapons. Moscow has repeatedly warned Western counterparts against provoking a bigger war. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that any shipments to Ukraine containing lethal arms might be treated as a legitimate target for Russia. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov echoed those statements, adding that the continuous flow of Western weapons to Ukraine is hampering the negotiation process.
(UNI/SPUTNIk)