Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, signed this Monday an agreement with a view to the purchase from France of up to 100 Rafale fighter jets, as well as different anti-aircraft defense systems and drones. The Elysée communicated elements of the content of that letter of intent that this Monday signed Zelensky and the French President, Emmanuel Macron at the Villacoublay air base, about twenty kilometers southwest of Paris. Before that signature, Macron had presented the Ukrainian president with a series of French equipment, in particular Rafale fighter jets, SAMP/T NG and Aster 30 B NT anti-aircraft defense missiles, GF 300 radars and drones.
You can also read: The ‘No’ continues to advance in the four questions of the Ecuador referendum with 50% counted
The Elysée indicated that this letter of intent includes future contracts that would involve the delivery of material over a decade.Since the beginning of the war, France had signed agreements with Ukraine to sell it weaponry worth 8.6 billion euros, which included, among other things, different types of anti-tank missiles, Mistral anti-aircraft defense missiles, Caesar cannons, armored vehicles, the cession of Mirage 2000 fighter jets used by the French army, ammunition or individual equipment for soldiers.
Ukraine had already formalized last month its willingness to buy between 100 and 150 Swedish Gripen fighter jets.
The Ukrainian president began his ninth visit to France in Villacoublay since the beginning of the war in February 2022, on a day in which Macron’s support for Ukraine must be reaffirmed at a particularly delicate moment due to the situation on the front and the political crisis facing the Ukrainian government. From Villacoublay, Macron and Zelensky moved to Mont Valérien in the city of Surennes, where the headquarters of the volunteer coalition of 35 countries, mostly European, is located, working on the preparation of security guarantees to Kiev in the event of a ceasefire with Russia. Those security guarantees, which would entail the deployment in Ukraine of troops from some countries of the volunteer coalition (which was created because the United States has excluded itself from military involvement on the ground) are subject to a ceasefire agreement that is not expected in the short term. The French and Ukrainian presidents will hold a working lunch at the Élysée Palace, after appearing at a press conference. In the afternoon, they will participate in a forum dedicated to deepening the cooperation of the two countries in drones.
