France will keep providing military intelligence to Ukraine after Washington announced it was freezing the sharing of information with Kyiv, French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on Thursday.
The United States made the decision to halt intelligence sharing and military aid as part of efforts to crank up pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to cooperate with President Donald Trump's bid to convene peace talks with Russia.
American intelligence is vital for Ukraine to track Russian troop movements and select targets. France warned that Washington's actions would harm Ukraine's operations against Russia's invasion.
Speaking on France Inter radio, Defence Minister Lecornu said France's own intelligence provided to Kyiv was not reliant on Washington.
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"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 US intelligence.
"We have sovereign intelligence and we have our own capacities and have resources that we use to help the Ukrainians," he added.
Lecornu's office later said the sharing of intelligence with Ukraine is not a novelty but “a continuity of service.”
Lecornu added that following the US decision to suspend all military aid to Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron asked him to “accelerate the various French aid packages” to make up for the lack of American assistance.
In the wake of the US decision, shipments of Ukraine-bound aid departing from Poland had been suspended, Lecornu said, adding however that “Ukrainians, unfortunately, have learned to fight this war for three years now and know how to stockpile”.
