France To 'Respond' To Kiev's Request To Supply Air Defense Systems - French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna

France will respond to Ukraine's request for the supply of air defense systems, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said on Thursday

PARIS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th January, 2023) France will respond to Ukraine's request for the supply of air defense systems, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said in an interview with CNN that air defense systems were Ukraine's number one priority.

"Today, the main need of Ukraine in terms of military equipment is air defense systems. This was again reminded yesterday by the Ukrainian defense minister. And I can tell you that we will respond to this request," Colonna said at a joint press conference with her Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, held in the Ukrainian city of Odesa.

On Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron said he did not rule out any options in terms of further arms supplies to Ukraine, including sending Leclerc tanks.

On Wednesday, the United States announced it would send 31 Abrams tanks to Kiev, which would constitute a Ukrainian tank battalion. The announcement came hours after Germany committed to providing 14 Leopard tanks to Ukraine after being repeatedly pushed to do so by its EU and NATO allies.

In April 2022, Moscow sent a note to NATO member states condemning their military assistance to Kiev after Russia started its military operation in Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that any arms shipments on Ukrainian territory would be "legitimate targets" for Russian forces.