PARIS — France will continue to provide military intelligence to Ukraine after Washington announced a freeze on information sharing with Kyiv, French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said Thursday.
The United States announced Wednesday that it had suspended intelligence sharing with Ukraine, cutting off the flow of vital information that has helped the war-torn country target Russian invaders, but Trump administration officials have said that positive talks between Washington and Kyiv suggest that the suspension may be temporary.
American intelligence is critical for Ukraine in tracking Russian troop movements and identifying targets.
On Thursday, Lecornu told France Inter radio that France will continue to share intelligence.
“Our intelligence is sovereign,” Lecornu explained. “We have intelligence that we allow Ukraine to benefit from.”
Lecornu’s office later stated that intelligence sharing with Ukraine is not a novel concept, but rather “a continuation of service.”
Following the United States’ decision to suspend all military aid to Ukraine, Lecornu stated that French President Emmanuel Macron asked him to “accelerate the various French aid packages” to compensate for the lack of American assistance.
Lecornu stated that as a result of the US decision, shipments of Ukraine-bound aid departing from Poland had been halted, but added that “Ukrainians, unfortunately, have learned to fight this war for three years now and know how to stockpile.”
