Denmark, France to speed up delivery of artillery systems to Ukraine

Denmark has announced plans to expedite its military aid to Ukraine, with an emphasis on speeding up the delivery of artillery systems in cooperation with France.

The government has consulted with the Foreign Policy Council and is set to increase funding for weapons procurement in 2024, while accelerating joint artillery system deliveries, Caliber.Az reports via Russian media.

Initially, Denmark and France had planned to send Caesar self-propelled artillery systems to Ukraine in 2026. However, the timeline has been moved up, with Ukraine now expected to receive the systems as early as 2025. The artillery systems, manufactured by the French company Nexter, are part of a larger effort to strengthen Ukraine's defence capabilities.

In addition, Denmark will allocate further resources to the industrial pool dedicated to acquiring military equipment for Ukraine, which has a value of 2.6 billion kroner ($370 million).

"The war in Ukraine is at a critical phase. It is extremely important that we support Ukraine as much as possible," commented Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen. "I hope that more countries will follow this example."

Since February 2022, Denmark has committed around €7.2 billion in military aid and approximately €693 million in civilian aid to Ukraine.