Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday met France’s Emmanuel Macron at an air base outside Paris to seal a major deal to acquire French air defence hardware including Rafale fighter jets, France’s flagship combat aircraft.
The two leaders signed a letter of intent for Kyiv to purchase up to 100 Rafale fighter jets “with their associated weapons”, the Élysée palace said.
In a boost for Ukraine as it fights the Russian invasion, the accord also paves the way for Kyiv to acquire the new generation SAMP-T air defence system under development, as well as radar systems and drones.
The accord signed at France’s Villacoublay air base is not a purchase and sales contract and is projected to be realised “over a timeframe of about 10 years”, the presidency added.
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© France 24
“A great day,” Macron wrote in a brief post on X in French and Ukrainian over a picture of the deal being signed.
The aim is to “enable it (Kyiv) to acquire the systems it needs to respond to Russian aggression”, added a French presidential official, asking not to be named.
The Ukrainian president had already signed a letter of intent last month to acquire 100 to 150 Swedish Gripen fighter jets.
France has delivered Mirage fighter jets to Kyiv, but until now there had been no talk of Ukraine acquiring the Rafale, the crown jewel of French combat aviation.
Ukraine on backfoot
Zelensky, who has suffered setbacks over the last week due to a corruption scandal at home and Russian forces closing in on the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, wrote on X ahead of the talks that he expected the meeting to result in a “historic deal”.
His visit to France is the ninth since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
It comes ahead of what analysts predict will be a tough winter for Kyiv as Moscow presses on the battlefield.
Read moreWhy Ukraine is struggling to hold on to the ruined city of Pokrovsk
Overnight, Russian strikes killed three people in a city in Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region, its military administration chief said. Seven people were killed after Russia struck apartment blocks across the capital Kyiv on Friday.
Zelensky at the weekend announced an overhaul of state-owned energy companies after a corruption scandal, ordering two ministers to resign and sanctioning a former business partner who was named as its mastermind.
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On Monday, Macron and Zelensky also visited the headquarters of a Ukraine multinational force that France and Britain are preparing in the event an international force is deployed in Ukraine after any ceasefire.
The headquarters at Mont Valerien, west of Paris, is where countries from the “coalition of the willing” organised by France and Britain have sent officers to prepare the force.
Paris and London have pushed for the creation of a coalition of about 30 countries willing to send troops and assets to Ukraine or along its western borders once a peace deal with Russia is agreed.
A key objective is to ensure Ukraine has sufficient long-term military and economic aid to keep its army strong enough to deter any future Russian attack.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
