France to use proceeds from frozen Russian assets to maintain Ukraine’s Caesar howitzers

France is going to utilize proceeds from frozen Russian assets to provide maintenance for Caesar self-propelled howitzers it has delivered to Ukraine.

The head of French diplomacy, Jean-Noel Barrot, said this on Friday in Lviv, Ukraine, Le Figaro reported.

“We will soon announce that by mobilizing the proceeds of frozen shares, France will be able to provide, through its KNDS company, operational maintenance of the Caesar guns that France has supplied to Ukraine to counter Russian attacks,” said Jean-Noel Barrot, following a meeting of European Union foreign ministers.

The EU decided to use the interest earned from frozen Russian assets to help Kyiv. In June 2024, the Franco-German arms company KNDS, which produces Caesar systems among other products, officially established a subsidiary in Ukraine and subsequently announced the creation of a Caesar maintenance center in Paris.

The EU has decided to use the interest generated by frozen Russian assets to help Kyiv. In June 2024, the Franco-German arms group KNDS, which manufactures Caesar cannons, announced in Paris that it was setting up a subsidiary in Ukraine and that it would set up a Caesar maintenance center.

France has delivered some sixty examples of these guns, capable of firing six shells in less than a minute, to a range of 40 km with outstanding accuracy. Caesars have been proven very efficient on the front against Russian troops, according to the Ukrainian side.

Jean-Noel Barrot also said that it is necessary to “push Vladimir Putin to agree” to a ceasefire. “We want peace, and today the only obstacle to peace is in Moscow. He holds parades; his name is Vladimir Putin,” he said. “Yesterday, the president of the Republic spoke several times with President Trump, to whom he expressed this firm conviction,” the French foreign minister said.

“Yesterday, I met Lindsey Graham, the US senator, who is carrying a package of massive sanctions against Russia along with 70 Democratic and Republican senators, and I assured him that, together with the Europeans, we too would be taking a new package of sanctions in the coming days to put pressure on Russia,” said Mr. Barrot.

The United States has been conducting separate negotiations with the Ukrainians and Russians for weeks, so far without success. They have recently involved the Europeans.

On Thursday, the German leader Friedrich Merz also had a phone conversation with Donald Trump. According to the chancellor, he expressed his support for the plan for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine.

After speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on May 8, Donald Trump said that he would prefer a 30-day unconditional ceasefire and again mentioned the possibility of new sanctions against Russia.