French President Emmanuel Macron slammed criticism from right-wing nationalist leader Marine Le Pen and others that arms supplies to Ukraine are weakening France's ability to defend itself against attack.
"That is both false and dangerous," Macron told the Sunday edition of the newspaper Le Parisien. "As commander-in-chief of the armed forces, I can assure you that always, when we supply something, we do so while maintaining our defence capacities for our territory, our critical infrastructure, and our citizens.”
Earlier, Le Pen indicated that France could not supply weapons to Ukraine for its defence against the Russian invasion at the expense of its own security.
In response, Macron accused Le Pen of carrying on a "capitulation discourse" and of being a friend of Russian state violence.
"If we had not supplied the Caesar howitzers, the Ukrainians would have lost territory," Macron said. French nationals should know that the money was being spent "for the defence of our values and our freedom," he noted.
The president has previously asserted that the French industry would produce more arms more quickly, highlighting that Paris would retrieve arms sold to other countries that were not needed there.
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