France says its intelligence for Ukraine not affected by US freeze

France Maintains Intelligence Support for Ukraine Amid US Aid Freeze

PARIS (Reuters) -France's defence minister said intelligence it provided to Ukraine was unaffected by the U.S. suspension of intelligence sharing with Kyiv, but warned that Washington's halt in military aid would harm Ukraine's operations against Russia's invasion.

The United States made the decision as part of efforts to crank up pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to cooperate with President Donald Trump's bid to convene peace talks with Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Speaking on France Inter radio, Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu said the U.S. halt to military aid and intelligence sharing would have a "significant operational impact" on Ukraine. But Lecornu said France's own intelligence provided to Kyiv was not reliant on Washington.

"I think for our British friends who are in an intelligence community with the United States, it is more complicated," he said, alluding to the "Five Eyes" group of English-speaking countries that also includes Canada, Australia and New Zealand, when asked whether Europe could replace U.S. intelligence.

"We have sovereign intelligence and we have our own capacities and have resources that we use to help the Ukrainians," he said.

French military spokesman Colonel Guillaume Vernet declined to say exactly what intelligence Paris was providing to Kyiv, given the sensitivity of the information.

"From the start France's operational objective has been to strengthen Ukraine in its critical capacities and ensure it can be a deterrent force against Russia," he told reporters at a weekly news conference.

"We do that in all the critical areas and are in various coalitions from deep strikes, aviation capacity to intelligence."

(Reporting by John Irish; writing by Makini Brice; editing by Alison Williams, Clarence Fernandez and Mark Heinrich)