"You can share an article by clicking on the share icons in the top right-hand corner. Total or partial reproduction of an article, without the prior written authorization of Le Monde, is strictly forbidden. For further information, please consult our general terms and conditions of sale. For all requests for authorization, please contact syndication@lemonde.fr. As a subscriber, you can offer up to five articles per month to one of your friends or family thanks to the “Offer an article” feature.

The first Scalp long-range missiles, whose delivery French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Tuesday, have already arrived in Ukraine, a French military source has announced. “The first missiles were delivered at the same time as our president announced it,” said the source, speaking on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius.

Paris provided no details on the number of missiles that have already been or will be delivered, while its stockpile is estimated at “less than four hundred”, according to the specialist magazine Défense et sécurité internationale. “The number of missiles delivered to Ukraine is quite significant”, but French stocks remain “well above the capabilities [the country] needs”, stressed the source quoted by the magazine.

Their delivery meets the three criteria defined by France for the supply of armaments to Kiev: that they are “useful in the fight” of the Ukrainians, “not ‘escalatory’” vis-à-vis Russia and that they “do not weaken France’s ability to defend itself”.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)"