“Those who buy Patriot should be offered the new-generation Franco-Italian SAMP/T. Those who buy the F-35, should be offered the Rafale. That’s the way to increase the rate of production,” he said.
Macron’s comments come as European NATO members have become even more dependent on U.S. weapons than ever before.
This month, the Netherlands and Belgium confirmed they would still buy American-made F-35 fighter jets, while Portugal is wobbling about replacing its U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets with more modern F-35s because of “the recent position of the United States, in the context of NATO.”
Macron said he has asked French defense companies to cut red tape and reduce costs to become a more attractive option, Nice-Matin reported.
The French president also clarified what a possible deployment of European troops to help Ukraine could look like. The goal is to “deploy a few thousand men per nation, at key points, to carry out training programs” and “show our support over the long term,” he said.
Macron said that the conditions laid down by Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree on a ceasefire in Ukraine “are unacceptable.”
