France to Send 12 Additional Caesar Howitzers to Ukraine

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov shakes hands with French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu during a press conference as part of Ukraine's Defense Minister's official visit, at the Hotel de Brienne, the French Ministry of Armed Forces, in Paris on January 31, 2023. (Reuters)
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov shakes hands with French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu during a press conference as part of Ukraine's Defense Minister's official visit, at the Hotel de Brienne, the French Ministry of Armed Forces, in Paris on January 31, 2023. (Reuters)
TT

France to Send 12 Additional Caesar Howitzers to Ukraine

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov shakes hands with French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu during a press conference as part of Ukraine's Defense Minister's official visit, at the Hotel de Brienne, the French Ministry of Armed Forces, in Paris on January 31, 2023. (Reuters)
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov shakes hands with French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu during a press conference as part of Ukraine's Defense Minister's official visit, at the Hotel de Brienne, the French Ministry of Armed Forces, in Paris on January 31, 2023. (Reuters)

France said on Tuesday it will send 12 additional Caesar howitzers to Ukraine and has discussed training Ukrainian pilots to fly French fighter jets as part of military assistance to Kyiv in the war with Russia.

Speaking after meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Oleksii Reznikov in Paris, Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said France will also send 150 army staff to Poland to train up to 600 Ukrainian soldiers per month there.

Paris has already delivered 18 Caesar howitzers to Kyiv. The additional 12 Caesar Howitzers will be funded by a 200-million-euro ($217 million) fund approved by the French parliament, Lecornu said.

"If these 12 Caesar are possible, it is because Nexter (the manufacturer) has increased production capacity," he added.

On Monday when asked about sending fighter jets to Ukraine, President Emmanuel Macron had said at a press conference in the Hague "by definition, nothing is excluded".

Lecornu reiterated that position on Tuesday, saying "there was no taboo" when asked the same question.

France's position when it came to supplying arms to Ukraine was that it should not weaken France's own defense capacity, that it should be useful and practical to help Kyiv in the war with Russia and that the weapons be used only by Ukraine to defend itself, he said.

Training Ukrainian pilots to fly fighter jets was "part of our discussions but no decision has yet been taken on that issue," Lecornu said.

Reznikov said on Tuesday that a decision by France this month to provide Kyiv with light AMX-10 RC armored combat vehicles had had a "snowball" effect, with other allies later promising to send tanks.



Iran Ministry Protests over Arrests in US of its Nationals

The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
TT

Iran Ministry Protests over Arrests in US of its Nationals

The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

Iran has summoned the Swiss ambassador in Tehran, who represents US interests in the country, and a senior Italian diplomat over the arrest by the US of two Iranian nationals this week, Iranian media reported on Saturday.

US prosecutors charged the two men on Monday with illegally exporting sensitive technology to Iran that they said was used in a January drone attack in Jordan that killed three US service members, Reuters reported.

The US blamed Iran-backed militants for the attack. Iran said at the time it was not involved.

Federal prosecutors in Boston identified the men as Mohammad Abedini, the co-founder of an Iranian-based company, and Mahdi Sadeghi, an employee of Massachusetts-based semiconductor manufacturer Analog Devices.

Abedini, a resident of both Switzerland and Iran, was arrested in Italy at the request of the US government. Sadeghi, an Iranian-born naturalized US citizen, lives in Natick, Massachusetts.

“We consider these arrests in violation of international law,” Iranian media quoted the foreign ministry as saying, adding that the Swiss ambassador and the Italian charge d'affaires were asked to pass on Iran’s protest.