The French government is having difficulty finding funds to finance the promised €3bn aid to Ukraine due to the need to cut public spending. This was reported by Bloomberg agency citing unnamed sources.
According to Bloomberg, the ministries of defence, foreign affairs and finance of France will be forced to reallocate funds and find savings to finance the promised €3 billion aid package to Ukraine for the purchase of missiles and artillery.
The agency notes that the difficulties are related to the French authorities’ 18 February reduction of the country’s GDP growth for 2024, as well as the need to cut spending by €10bn to fulfil commitments to limit the budget deficit.
One of the agency’s interlocutors said that the government has no possibility to make changes to the budget for the current year to finance a new aid package for Ukraine. Another Bloomberg source pointed out that the €400m that France had allocated to finance the armed forces until 2027 did not envisage any options for providing Kiev with additional assistance.
Earlier, the French ambassador to Kiev, Gael Vesier, said in an interview with France Info TV channel that France was planning to change the form of military support for Ukraine.