Ukraine signs a letter of intent to buy up to 100 Rafale warplanes from France

PARIS (AP) — Ukraine on Monday signed a letter of intent to buy up to 100 Rafale warplanes from France, the Ukrainian Embassy and the French president’s office said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and French President Emmanuel Macron signed the document stating that Ukraine is considering the possibility of buying French defense equipment, including Rafale jet fighters, Macron’s office said. It did not provide further details.

Zelenskyy was on his ninth visit to Paris since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. His talks are meant to strengthen Ukraine’s defenses as the country enters another winter under Russian bombardment of its energy infrastructure and other targets.

On Monday morning, Macron and Zelenskyy visited an air base in the Paris outskirts, before heading to the headquarters of a multinational force, dubbed the “coalition of the willing,” that France and Britain have been preparing with more than 30 other nations to police an eventual ceasefire in Ukraine.

French officials say the force could be deployed immediately after a ceasefire and would be stationed away from the front lines in an effort to help dissuade renewed Russian attacks. Russian President Vladimir Putin has so far rejected calls for a ceasefire as his troops make creeping gains on the battlefield.

Zelenskyy wrote on X on Sunday that he looked forward to a “historic deal with France in Paris to strengthen our combat aviation and air defense." He made a stop to Greece on his way to France to sign an agreement to supply Ukraine with U.S. liquefied natural gas.

Last month, Ukraine and Sweden signed an agreement exploring the possibility of Ukraine buying up to 150 Swedish-made Gripen fighter jets over the next decade or more. Ukraine has already received American-made F-16s and French Mirages.

France is among major suppliers of defense assistance to Ukraine, including air defense systems and fighter jets.

The chief of the French defense staff, Air Force Gen. Fabien Mandon, this month told French senators that Ukraine needs immediate additional air defenses because Russia is on average targeting the country with about 1,700 drones per week and also hitting it with missiles.

He said that European-made SAMP/T ground-to-air systems that France provided are proving more effective than U.S.-made Patriot batteries against hard-to-hit Russian missiles.

“We helped Ukraine by deploying missile and drone interception systems called the SAMP/T system. The Russians adapted the flight profiles of their most advanced missiles because they realized they were being intercepted by Ukrainian defenses. Today, the Patriot system is struggling to intercept them, but the SAMP/T is intercepting them,” Mandon said.

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