France to send light combat vehicles to Ukraine - Elysee

PARIS (Reuters) -French President Emmanuel Macron told Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy that his government would send light AMX-10 RC armoured combat vehicles to help in the war against Russia, a French official said after a phone call between the two leaders.

"This is the first time that Western-made armoured vehicles are being delivered in support of the Ukrainian army," the official said.

Speaking to reporters, the official did not give any details about the volume or timing of the planned shipments but said talks would continue regarding the potential delivery of other vehicle types.

France last year supplied several Caesar howitzers to Ukraine. Macron in October also said Paris would provide air defence weapons to Ukraine as Russia intensified missile strikes on critical infrastructure.

The French-made AMX-10 is an armed reconnaissance vehicle with high mobility, which carries four people, according to the French armed forces ministry website.

Zelenskiy repeatedly asked Western allies for heavier fighting vehicles such as the German-made Leopard tanks.

(Reporting by Elizabeth Pineau, writing by Tassilo Hummel, editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Angus MacSwan)