A step forward in favor of Kyiv. Volodymyr Zelensky signed a “declaration of intent” with Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Monday with a view to the future purchase of French Rafale fighters, as many as one hundred, which Ukraine will acquire for the first time, and a new generation of air defense systems.
According to the Élysée, this agreement, projected “over a period of about ten years”, provides for the possibility of future contracts for “Ukraine’s acquisition of new French defense equipment: “an order of 100 Rafales, with associated armament”, as well as other armament, including the new generation SAMP-T air defense system currently under development, radar systems and drones.
The French president welcomed his counterpart at the Villacoublay base where industrialists handed over equipment to the leader of the country that has been at war with Russia since 2022.
“Historic agreement”
On Sunday, on the X network, Volodymyr Zelensky spoke about a “historic agreement” that provides “significant strengthening” of “combat aviation, air defense and other defense equipment” in Kiev.
According to the French presidency, this means “putting France’s superiority in the arms industry at the service of Ukraine’s defense” and “the sky” in the face of “Russian aggression.”
France has sent Mirage fighter planes to Kiev, but until now there has been no doubt whether Ukraine will acquire the Rafale, the mainstay of French fighter aviation.
Another difficult winter in Ukraine
Ukraine’s president renewed his call on Saturday for more air defense systems, a day after a major Russian attack on his country. On the night of Sunday into Monday, another attack killed at least three people in the Kharkiv region, in eastern Ukraine, according to local authorities.
The Ukrainian leader’s ninth visit to France since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022 comes at a time when the situation on the front lines is complicated for his country, as winter approaches. And that Ukraine is reeling from a corruption scandal that prompted two of its ministers to resign and forced Volodymyr Zelensky to take sanctions against one of his close friends.
“Regarding the issue of corruption, we must be very vigilant. We are and especially are in the process of accession to the European Union” initiated by Ukraine, recalled the Ministerial Delegate responsible for Europe, Benjamin Haddad, on the LCI channel on Saturday.
