Paris: Ukraine signed a letter of intent with France to obtain 100 Rafale warplanes over the next 10 years, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday as he seeks to bolster the country’s long-term military capacity to fight Russia’s invasion.
Zelenskiy is visiting Paris for talks with President Emmanuel Macron at a time when heavy Russian drone and missile attacks on Ukraine have increased in recent weeks and Moscow has reported ground advances in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region.
“It will be the greatest air defence, one of the greatest in the world,” Zelenskiy told reporters after he signed the letter of intent with Macron in front of a Rafale jet and the French and Ukrainian flags at Villacoublay military airport.
The Elysee confirmed the number of Rafales and said the deal, which also includes air defence systems, bombs and drones alongside the Dassault -made jets, concerns new equipment rather than transfers from French stocks.
“We’re planning Rafales, 100 Rafales — that’s huge. That’s what’s needed for the regeneration of the Ukrainian military,” Macron told LCI TV, adding that the deal was also good news for France and Dassault.
Dassault’s shares soared and were up 7.4% at 1137 GMT.
The letter of intent is a political commitment, rather than a purchase deal, which would come later, the Elysee said, adding that the aim was to finance this with EU programs and the planned use of frozen Russian assets – which the EU has not yet agreed on.
FRANCE LOOKING AT LONG-TERM STRENGTH OF UKRAINE’S MILITARY
Operating the advanced Rafale jets would take time given the rigorous training programme for pilots.
There have been talks for several weeks to see how France could provide more military support for Ukraine’s air defences, although Macron’s government is grappling with political and budgetary instability, raising questions over how much France can actually do.
Macron pledged last month to offer more Mirage fighter jets, after initially promising to deliver six, and a new batch of Aster 30 surface-to-air missiles, produced by European group MBDA, for the SAMP/T air-defence batteries operated by Ukraine.
France, along with Britain, has 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.
In a media briefing ahead of Zelenskiy’s visit, Macron’s office said the aim was to “put French excellence in the arms industry at the service of Ukraine’s defence” and “enable it to acquire the systems it needs to respond to Russian aggression”.
Zelenskiy attended a briefing by various manufacturers, including Dassault, on Monday morning before signing the letter of intent.
A separate forum in the afternoon will bring together Ukrainian and French firms working in the drone sector to see how they can combine their efforts.
(Additional reporting by Olena Harmash, Florence Loeve, Alessandro Parodi, Anastasiia MalenkoWriting by John Irish, Ingrid Melander and Michel Rose;Editing by Mark Heinrich and Frances Kerry)