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France says its intelligence for Ukraine not affected by US freeze
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 6, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 25, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
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Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 6, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 25, 2026
France continues intelligence support for Ukraine despite US aid freeze, impacting Ukraine's defense against Russia.
PARIS (Reuters) -France's defence minister said intelligence it provided to Ukraine was unaffected by the U.S. suspension of intelligence sharing with Kyiv, but warned that Washington's halt in military aid would harm Ukraine's operations against Russia's invasion.
The United States made the decision as part of efforts to crank up pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to cooperate with President Donald Trump's bid to convene peace talks with Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Speaking on France Inter radio, Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu said the U.S. halt to military aid and intelligence sharing would have a "significant operational impact" on Ukraine. But Lecornu said France's own intelligence provided to Kyiv was not reliant on Washington.
"I think for our British friends who are in an intelligence community with the United States, it is more complicated," he said, alluding to the "Five Eyes" group of English-speaking countries that also includes Canada, Australia and New Zealand, when asked whether Europe could replace U.S. intelligence.
"We have sovereign intelligence and we have our own capacities and have resources that we use to help the Ukrainians," he said.
French military spokesman Colonel Guillaume Vernet declined to say exactly what intelligence Paris was providing to Kyiv, given the sensitivity of the information.
"From the start France's operational objective has been to strengthen Ukraine in its critical capacities and ensure it can be a deterrent force against Russia," he told reporters at a weekly news conference.
"We do that in all the critical areas and are in various coalitions from deep strikes, aviation capacity to intelligence."
(Reporting by John Irish; writing by Makini Brice; editing by Alison Williams, Clarence Fernandez and Mark Heinrich)
The US suspension of military aid and intelligence sharing is expected to have a significant operational impact on Ukraine, according to France's Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu.
France's Defence Minister stated that the intelligence provided to Ukraine remains unaffected by the US's decision to halt intelligence sharing.
France aims to strengthen Ukraine's critical capacities and ensure it can serve as a deterrent force against Russia.
Colonel Vernet declined to specify the exact intelligence being provided to Kyiv due to the sensitivity of the information.
France emphasizes its sovereign intelligence capabilities and resources, which it uses independently to assist Ukraine, despite the complexities faced by its allies in the intelligence community.
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