Paris (AFP) – Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky visits Paris on Monday in a new bid to secure weaponry to defend his country against increasingly lethal Russian missile and drone attacks. Zelensky’s visit is part of a brief tour of his western allies that saw him seal an energy deal with Greece on Sunday and will include a visit to Spain on Tuesday. The Ukrainian leader has said that “a major deal with France” will be announced soon, but it was not known if that would be finalised in his talks with President Emmanuel Macron. The French presidency said Macron would “put French excellence in the armaments industry field at the service of the defence of Ukraine.” Paris, he said, would propose ways to allow Ukraine “to acquire the systems that it needs to answer Russian aggression”. Macron’s office notably highlighted air defences.
Zelensky on Saturday renewed his appeals for more anti-missile systems, a day after deadly Russian strikes on Kyiv. Zelensky and Macron will start the day at the Villacoublay air base near Paris for a presentation of France’s Rafale fighter jet. They will also look at drones and France’s SAMP-T surface-to-air missile system it developed with Italy. The Ukrainian president last month signed a letter of intent that could see his country buy up to 150 Swedish Gripen fighters. Ukraine already has one of the current SAMP-Ts that can counter fighter jets as well as cruise missiles and tactical ballistic missiles. A new-generation, more powerful SAMP-T system should become available from 2027.
France has already promised more of its Aster missiles that can be fired from the SAMP-T or from aircraft to Ukraine. “We are also working on deliveries of other advanced air-defence systems and strengthening our aviation — a major deal with France is in preparation and will be finalised soon — a historic agreement,” Zelensky said in a video released Friday. Zelensky and Macron will then go on to a forum at the Elysee palace on joint production of drones. Ukraine has said it plans to use more than 4.5 million drones this year, for frontline attacks and to fight off Russian drones.
The two presidents will also visit 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. France says that 34 countries and Ukraine have already offered to take part.
Zelensky’s ninth visit to France since the Russian invasion in 2022 comes as his government battles a new corruption scandal, this time involving its energy firms. France’s Europe Minister Benjamin Haddad said in a television interview on Saturday that governments had to be “extraordinarily vigilant” about corruption as Ukraine presses its case to join the European Union.
© 2024 AFP
