“Our duty is to make Russian victory impossible,” says president

The president spoke to soldiers on Friday in Cherbourg. He called on French manufacturers to “gain speed” in arms production.

“A Russian victory is the end of European security.” France has for “duty” of “make Russian victory impossible”declared Emmanuel Macron, Friday January 19, reaffirming his support for Ukraine during his wishes to the armies organized in Cherbourg (Manche). “We cannot let Russia think it can win”he insisted.

The Head of State urged defense manufacturers to “gain speed, volume and innovation” to reach the “war economy mode”. “We must never again be satisfied with production deadlines that extend over several years.”he warned, castigating the “form of numbness” which had reached the sector before the invasion of Ukraine.

The president notably expressed satisfaction with the improvement in production rates of the Caesar cannon, the Mistral missile, the Rafale plane and Thales radars. But “others were slow to understand the change in strategic context, the importance of being able to deliver quickly” And “have, for a year and a half, sometimes missed contracts and I regret it”, he slipped. The Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, also pointed out, on Thursday, “bad students”as for the production of Aster surface-to-air defense missiles by MBDA. “Management by deadlines is vital”insisted the Head of State, calling not to “no longer count in years, but in months and weeks”.