PARIS: Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky said on Friday he hoped to see French-supplied warplanes in Ukrainian skies soon after President Emmanuel Macron said France planned to provide it Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets.
Zelensky has long expressed his frustration at how long Western allies are taking to make key decisions on military support for Ukraine in its war against Russian invasion forces.
“I’m sure that a day will come when Ukraine will see the same jets in our skies that we saw in Normandy skies yesterday,” Zelensky told French lawmakers, referring to Thursday’s commemorations for the 80th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy.
“Your combat aviation, brilliant fighter jets under Ukrainian pilots’ command will prove that Europe is stronger, stronger than evil which dared to threaten it,” Zelensky said.
Macron also made a link with D-Day, promising Europe would not weaken in its support for Ukraine. He did not specify how many Dassault-made Mirages France would provide but said Paris would send the planes and train pilots by the end of the year.
US President Joe Biden said after meeting Zelensky in Paris on Friday that Washington would not walk away and has offered a new $225 million in weapons.
FRENCH WARPLANES AND TRAINING
The Mirage 2000-5 is a multi-role, single-engine jet fighter. France aims to replace its existing Mirage fleet by 2030 with Rafale warplanes, but it hopes also to convince other countries that have Mirages to supply them to Ukraine.
Zelensky addressed France’s National Assembly on Friday, earning several standing ovations.
“Can Putin win the war? No, because we have no right to lose,” Zelensky told the lawmakers. “Can this war end on the lines that exist now? No, because there are no lines for evil, not 80 years ago, not now.”
In the run-up to Zelensky’s visit, diplomats had said Paris could agree to send military trainers to Ukraine given Kyiv’s urgent needs to quickly mobilize more men.
Macron said that in the immediate term, France would train, equip and finance an entire brigade of 4,500 Ukrainians, but he stopped short of making any announcement on sending advisers for now.
Such a decision would be done on the basis of a collective decision, he said.
“There should not be a taboo on this subject. At a moment when Ukraine has a challenge, we need give an answer,” he said.
He said Ukraine’s defense minister had through an official letter 48 hours ago told its allies it needed more help in training quickly and on its soil.
“There is a request,” Macron said.
Ukraine’s military leaders admit that the battlefield situation on the eastern front has deteriorated. Two years of war have sapped Ukraine’s ammunition and manpower and a failed counter-offensive last year sank morale.
Though the US Congress finally greenlit a long-delayed $60 billion US military package in April, analysts say that a severe worldwide shortage of artillery shells means Ukraine is likely to be outgunned by Russia for the remainder of the year as Kyiv’s allies ramp up production.
Zelensky welcomes French promises of Mirage 2000 warplanes to help fight Russia
https://arab.news/5dx6q
Zelensky welcomes French promises of Mirage 2000 warplanes to help fight Russia
- “I’m sure that a day will come when Ukraine will see the same jets in our skies that we saw in Normandy skies yesterday,” Zelensky told French lawmakers
- “Your combat aviation, brilliant fighter jets under Ukrainian pilots’ command will prove that Europe is stronger”
UPDATE 1-Trump expected to address potential easing of marijuana regulations on Thursday
- Trump considers executive order to reclassify marijuana
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump is expected to address the potential loosening of federal regulations on marijuana on Thursday, according to a White House official, setting up a decision that could sharply reverse decades of US drug policy. Trump said on Monday that he was considering an executive order to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug — a decision that could reshape the cannabis industry, ease criminal penalties and unlock billions in research funding. Such a shift would represent one of the most significant federal changes to marijuana policy in decades, reducing oversight to the level of common prescription drugs and potentially opening doors long closed to banks and investors.
The precise contents of Trump’s potential order were not immediately clear. While Trump “is currently expected to address marijuana rescheduling tomorrow, any details of this potential action until officially announced by the White House are speculation,” said the Trump administration official, who declined to be named. Under the US Controlled Substances Act, marijuana is listed as a Schedule I substance like heroin, ecstasy and peyote. That classification indicates it has a high potential for abuse and no currently accepted medical use. Local authorities often impose more lax regulations over weed, allowing medical or recreational use. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday that he was looking at pushing for weed to be reclassified under Schedule III, alongside Tylenol mixed with codeine, ketamine and testosterone. “We are looking at that very strongly,” he said at the time.
Initial reports that Trump might loosen restrictions on the psychoactive drug sent stocks of cannabis-related companies higher. They stand to benefit by making more cannabis products. “Rescheduling it would really open the floodgates to more and more smart conversation about the proper way to regulate and tax cannabis, would show that the federal government is real about getting to coming up with a solution so that these businesses can operate like every other business,” said Steve Levine, partner and co-leader of the law firm Husch Blackwell’s national cannabis practice. Funding remains one of the biggest challenges for cannabis producers, as federal restrictions keep most banks and institutional investors out of the sector, forcing pot producers to turn to costly loans or alternative lenders. The Biden administration previously asked the Department of Health and Human Services to review marijuana’s classification, and the agency recommended moving it to Schedule III classification. The Drug Enforcement Administration has to review the recommendation and will decide on the reclassification. “A potential reclassification in the US would be an important step toward normalizing cannabis policy, improving research, supporting patient care, and expanding access to regulated and safe channels for both consumers and patients,” said a spokesperson for Canopy Growth, a Canada-based cannabis firm.
