France and Australia agree on joint production of artillery shells for Ukraine

France and Australia will cooperate on a multi-million dollar project to produce “several thousand” artillery shells for Ukraine.

This was announced during a meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense of both countries in Paris, writes “European Truth” with reference to CNN.

“Several thousand 155mm rounds will be produced jointly in an unprecedented partnership between Australia and France,” said French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu.

He clarified that the French arms company Nexter will cooperate with Australian companies that will supply gunpowder for shells.

“This is part of the ongoing level of support that France and Australia are providing to Ukraine to ensure that Ukraine can hold its own in this conflict and bring it to an end on its own terms,” Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles added.

None of the ministers specified the number of artillery shells as exceeding “several thousand”, but they noted that this would be a long-term cooperation.

This is the first high-level talks between the two countries since Australia abandoned a defense agreement with Paris two years ago in favor of an agreement with the UK and the US, now known as AUKUS.

Recall that France and Italy are close to completing the coordination of technical details for the supply of SAMP / T anti-aircraft missile systems to Ukraine.

Source : Європейська правда