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France and Australia will collectively provide Ukraine with 155mm shells, that are notably utilized by Caesar cannons, their international ministries introduced following a summit Monday in Paris.
The 2 nations intend “to offer assist to Ukraine together with by way of joint provide of 155-millimetre ammunition,” in accordance with a abstract of the summit, signaling “new cooperation between the Australian and French protection industries.”
The transfer comes after greater than a 12 months of strained relations between Canberra and Paris, following Australia’s resolution in September 2021 to cancel a multi-billion euro submarine deal it had made with France, to purchase U.S.-made submarines as a substitute and pursue an alliance with the U.S. and the U.Ok., referred to as AUKUS.
France’s then-International Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian referred to as Australia’s reversal “a stab within the again,” whereas President Emmanuel Macron accused Scott Morrison of mendacity, saying the Australian prime minister didn’t disclose he was additionally speaking to the U.S. and the U.Ok.
The Australian authorities ultimately buried the hatchet final June, by agreeing to pay the French Naval group greater than half a billion euros to settle the dispute.
The Paris summit on Monday “mirrored the shared dedication to revive a dynamic bilateral relationship based on belief and shared pursuits,” the abstract added.
France has despatched 18 Caesar cannons — French truck-mounted howitzers used for air protection — to Ukraine for the reason that starting of Russia’s full-scale invasion final February, and pledged an extra six.
Usually focused by Russian air assaults, Ukraine has been urgent its Western allies to ship extra ammunition to gasoline its air protection techniques, because it makes use of hundreds of howitzer shells a day.
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