3:38 p.m. ET, October 12, 2022
France will provide Ukraine with air defense systems and weapons, Macron says
From CNN’s Joseph Ataman and Marguerite Lacroix in Paris
France will send air defense systems, radars, missiles and weapons to Ukraine in the coming weeks to defend against missile and drone attacks, French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview with broadcaster France 2 on Wednesday.
Macron, whose comments come after Ukraine experienced a wave of Russian missile attacks, said the French supplies would specifically help defeat these kinds of threats.
He added that France would deliver the hardware and the necessary training to Ukraine. Ukraine has specifically requested the weapons as a priority.
The French president said that this decision followed “an unprecedented phase of bombings” that struck Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.
Without going into detail, Macron said France was providing military intelligence to Ukraine.
Pressed on the success of international sanctions, Macron said that they were working.
“Russia is profoundly destabilized: in its capacity to regenerate its arms, its production and industry,” he said.
Macron also declared, “We are in a hybrid war."
“We are not just using weapons on the ground but using weapons of information,” he said, adding that Russia was using a wide variety of approaches to wage the conflict, including: propaganda channels, paying for influence including on social media, weaponizing migration, blackmail and hunger.
Questioned on nuclear risks in Ukraine, the French president confirmed that France’s nuclear doctrine would not automatically commit to a retaliatory strike, if Russia used nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
The president also refused to brand Russia a “terrorist state” saying that such labels “have little consequences”.
“There’s one state that’s declared war and that’s more than enough,” he said.