During the G7 foreign ministers' meeting on the Italian island of Capri last week, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba reportedly asked his French counterpart, Stephane Sejourne, to provide Ukraine with the new French SAMP/T Mamba system, which is a French-Italian mobile anti-aircraft defense weapon similar to the US Patriot systems.
"We are working on this in the French administration, as well as with our Italian partners, but no answer can be expected soon," an unnamed French official told Le Monde.
France supplied Ukraine with a SAMP/T system last year.
The newspaper also reported, citing a German diplomat, that a number of European countries, such as Spain, Greece, the Netherlands, Poland and Romania, have Patriot air defense systems, but are unwilling to send them to Ukraine.
On April 12, French newspaper Le Figaro reported, citing sources, that Kiev had asked Paris to help the Ukrainian military hold the positions on the battlefield that year so that it could launch a new counteroffensive in 2025. Ukraine is in need of the SAMP/T air defense system and missiles compatible with it, the report said.
However, despite pressure from the French government, missile maker MBDA will not be able to supply more Aster 30 missiles for the system in the short term, although the French military also needs them for its own missions, the newspaper added.