France's deceptive maneuvers with armored vehicles for Ukraine & Armenia

ANALYTICS  28 May 2024 - 13:24

This news might seem sensational, but it clearly illustrates the current state of modern France. Recently, France confirmed plans to produce Arquus' Bastion armored vehicles for Ukraine. Arquus CEO Emmanuel Levascheux announced that 11 Bastion series armored vehicles are currently in production. Initially, it was declared in April 2023 that these 11 Bastion armored vehicles would be delivered to Ukraine. However, this order was delayed due to the absence of a specific agreement between France and Ukraine.

Contrary to the loud claims that some armored vehicles were allocated to Armenia, it appears that the vehicles intended for Armenia will instead be transferred to Ukraine. According to Forces Operations Blog, the transfer is scheduled for July 2024. Arquus representatives also mentioned that they are ready to produce up to 100 additional Bastion vehicles for Ukraine if necessary.

Back in 2022, there were rumors about the possibility of supplying Bastion armored vehicles to Ukraine. In January 2023, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy even thanked French President Emmanuel Macron on Twitter for the decision to transfer these armored vehicles. However, Macron received thanks for empty promises. The performance of Emmanuel Macron, who never clarified what to thank him for, did not end there.

It soon emerged that Kyiv rejected the French armored vehicles due to their poor protection against artillery fire and anti-tank missiles. French officials did not disclose this defect, and Emmanuel Levascheux, the current general director of Arquus, continues to avoid addressing this issue, instead praising the product.

As the band Time Machine sang, there was a new twist. The new batch of Bastions did not go to Armenia. Despite a French Senate report, published as part of the 2024 Finance Bill, stating that France had sent Armenia 24 Bastion armored vehicles and that 26 more were in production, the reality differs.

Armenian media joyfully reported that the deliveries of military equipment, including Bastion armored vehicles, were the result of negotiations in October 2023 when Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikyan met with his French counterpart Sebastien Lecornu in Paris. Bilateral cooperation agreements were signed then. Seven months have passed, but as we see now, an agreement does not mean fulfillment, even if ‘sisters’ agree.

Armenian senior officials are put in a ridiculous light. France has again used its trademark ‘weird trick’, where official Paris receives gratitude in advance but fails to deliver on its promises. It wouldn't be surprising if the French eventually sell the Bastion armored vehicles to some African country.

France, a co-chair country of the OSCE Minsk Group, did nothing to contribute to a just settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. Instead, it supported Armenia, especially during and after the 44-day war. The scandalous resolutions of the French Senate, which turned out to be worthless, are not even worth mentioning.

After the successful counter-terrorist operation in September 2023, official Paris overstepped all bounds of decency. Macron's France failed to harm Azerbaijan, resulting in no significant consequences. The French ambassador was recalled and then returned. She initially refused to visit the liberated territories of Azerbaijan but eventually did. This demonstrates the chaotic and emotional foreign policy of official Paris.

It is as if France were a 'banana republic' rather than a nuclear power with imperial past and enormous ambitions. This situation exemplifies the results of cooperation with Macron's France, witnessed in Ukraine, now seen in Armenia, and likely to be observed in many other places.

Caliber.Az