France to send new surface-to-air missiles to Ukraine: Defence minister

Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu said that he has signed a second batch of Aster missiles.

Paris: France will send a new batch of Aster surface-to-air missiles to supply the Franco-Italian SAMP/T-MAMBA air defence system defending Kyiv, Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on Tuesday.

"I can perhaps announce to you that I have just signed a second batch of Aster missiles precisely to allow the SAMP-T that we gave with our Italian partners to continue to operate, since we are talking of intercepting Russian missiles which can attack Kiev," Lecornu said in a parliamentary hearing.