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the EC plans to treat Ukraine in this matter "almost like a member state" and involve it in the new mechanisms that will be created.
France is planning joint production of weapons with Ukraine and could send its army to Ukraine, but only under certain conditions. The Minister of Defense of France, Sebastien Lecornu, said that strategic partnerships are being prepared between French and Ukrainian defense enterprises to facilitate cooperation in the production of some equipment in Ukraine and to service equipment that has already been transferred. Among the French companies involved in this cooperation are Delair (drone manufacturer) and Nexter-KNDS (Caesar self-propelled guns and 155-mm shells). Production is planned to begin this summer. At the same time, France intends to expand its training program for Ukrainian soldiers, one aspect of Paris's support for Kyiv, along with the transfer of equipment and financial aid. In total, France has trained almost 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers since the beginning of the war, including 8,800 in 2023. In turn, the leader of the French Communist Party, Fabien Roussel, said that during a meeting with party leaders, President Emmanuel Macron stated that he could send troops to Ukraine if the front broke through to Odesa or Kyiv.
The EU's new defense industry strategy envisages using Russian assets to finance Ukraine's defense industry. The EC has presented a legislative proposal regarding the European Defense Industry Program (EDIP), which would allow for future financing of support for Ukraine's defense-industrial complex at the expense of profits from the frozen assets of the Russian Federation. EDIP will ensure the transition from short-term emergency measures adopted in 2023, ending in 2025, to a more structured and long-term approach and the achievement of military-industrial readiness. EDIP will mobilize €1.5B from the EU budget during fiscal years 2025-2027 to further increase the competitiveness of the European defensive technological and industrial base. It is assumed that the EDIP budget will also strengthen the EU's military-industrial cooperation with Ukraine and support the development of its military-industrial and technological base. For this purpose, EDIP can receive additional financing from the profits of immobilized Russian assets (subject to the adoption of a decision by the Council of the EU). Russian assets on Euroclear’s balance sheet brought €3.25B in profit in 2023; this year, the profit will reach a similar level.
Ukraine will open five joint defense enterprises with Western manufacturers. According to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, "We are cooperating very fruitfully with the leaders of the world's arms production. We can already talk about five signed contracts and five joint ventures in Ukraine cooperating with Western arms manufacturers. There will be dozens of enterprises this year." As the Prime Minister clarified, Ukraine creates some enterprises with private partners for security reasons. Shmyhal emphasized that many leading arms manufacturers are considering establishing their presence in Ukraine, concluding contracts, and creating joint ventures to produce weapons, assemble individual elements, and do repair work. Shmyhal added that the German Rheinmetall concern is producing armaments for Ukrainian needs and already provides repair services for military equipment. In the future, in addition to repairs, the assembly of individual elements or assemblies is also planned in Ukraine.
2.6 Polls & Sociology
The share of migrants who plan to return to Ukraine is gradually decreasing. Based on the results of three waves of research on the state and mood of Ukrainian refugees, experts discovered that in November 2022, 50%
29 UKRAINE Country Report April 2024 www.intellinews.com