France will soon deliver 78 howitzers to Ukraine to meet Kyiv’s urgent needs, defense minister says

By SYLVIE CORBET
Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — France’s defense minister says it will soon be able to deliver 78 Caesar howitzers to Ukraine. Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu also said Tuesday that France will boost its supply of artillery shells to meet Kyiv’s urgent needs for ammunition to fight Russia’s full-scale invasion. Lecornu said that an agreement was reached among France, Ukraine and Denmark to finance the Caesar self-propelled 155 mm howitzers that will enable France to “quickly deliver” them. France has also set a goal to deliver 80,000 shells for 155 mm guns to Ukraine this year. That’s up from 30,000 delivered since the beginning of the war in February 2022.