Ukraine 'artillery coalition' set for Paris kick-off

Ukraine's Western allies will launch an "artillery coalition" at a Paris ceremony Thursday, aiming to strengthen Kiev's armed forces against Russia's military.

Led by France and the United States, the 23-nation effort is part of the so-called Ramstein contact group, which gathers more than 50 countries supporting Ukraine.

French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu will lead Thursday's ceremony.

The artillery coalition "aims to combine efforts to help Ukraine have an artillery force that meets the needs of its counter-offensive and its army of the future, in the short and long term," the French defence ministry said.

Ukrainian defence chief Rustem Umerov had to cancel his long-planned attendance in Paris at the last minute "for security reasons", the French government said.

"The big prize for Ukraine is completing its transition from Soviet to Western equipment," said Stephane Audrand, a consultant in international risks.

With modern Western guns using 155-millimeter shells, rather than the 122mm ammunition of Soviet artillery, supply has become a critical issue.

The European Union had promised to deliver one million shells by spring this year, but European Parliament lawmakers say only 300,000 have been delivered so far.

France's defence ministry said Wednesday that artillery ammunition output had been tripled since Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, to a planned monthly rate of 3,000 this year.

That is far short of the number being fired along the hundreds of kilometers of front line, experts point out.

France has also promised 78 new Caesar truck-mounted guns for Ukraine by early 2025, with six delivered "in the coming weeks", the defence ministry said.

Joint funding must still...