France, Germany to provide more weapons to Ukraine

France and Germany, members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), pledged to provide more weapons to Ukraine. The U.S., which decided to provide cluster munitions, a form of weapons of mass destruction, is also considering whether it will provide long-distance missiles, ATACMS. Russia opposed the decisions made by the key member countries of NATO by citing a potential World War III.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Tuesday (local time), the first day of the NATO summit, that France will provide French long-range cruise missile SCALP to Ukraine. France is the second country to provide long-range missiles to Ukraine, following the U.K. The German Federal Ministry of Defence also announced on the same day that it would provide weapons worth 0.7 billion Euros (about one trillion won), including two Patriot launchers, 40 infantry combat vehicles, and 25 Leopard 1 A5 tanks.

According to the New York Times, the U.S. is considering providing ATACMS to Ukraine. The missile has a range of 300 kilometers, 60 kilometers longer than the British and French missiles. In response to such developments, Dmitry Medvedev, the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation and one of the closes advisors to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said that World War III is getting closer.

It is still controversial that the U.S. decided to provide cluster munitions, which are called ‘steel rain.’ “If the U.S. offers cluster munitions, Russia has no choice but to use similar means of destruction,” Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation Sergei Shoigu said, implying the likelihood of using nuclear weapons.

Even in the U.S., former President Donald Trump and some Democratic Senators opposed sending cluster munitions. However, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized the inevitability of such a decision in an interview with MSNBC, saying that Ukraine will soon run out of ammunition, leaving the country defenseless.


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