Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky landed in Paris on Monday as part of a Europe-wide tour seeking defence aid and contributions in his country’s fight against Russia.
Zelensky’s latest visit to his western allies saw him seal an energy deal with Greece on Sunday and includes a visit to Spain on Tuesday, AFP reports.
The Ukrainian leader has promised “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,” the AFP report notes.
Zelensky on Saturday renewed his appeals for more anti-missile systems, as Breitbart News reported.
“Ukraine needs support that saves lives: more air-defence systems, more protective capabilities and greater resolve from our partners,” Zelensky said on social media.
Earlier this month Germany delivered Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine in fulfillment of prior agreements.
“We have strengthened the ‘Patriot’ component of our Ukrainian air defense,” the president wrote on social media to confirm the delivery.
“I thank Germany and personally Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz for this joint step to protect human lives from Russian terror. For some time, we have been preparing this reinforcement of our air defense, and now the agreements reached have been implemented.”
Russia now controls about one-fifth of Ukraine and capitalized last year on weaknesses in Ukraine’s defences to slowly advance in eastern areas despite high losses of troops and equipment.
The war’s trajectory remains outside Ukraine’s favor.
The country is outnumbered on the front line as it demands continued support from its Western partners to stop the yield of more land mass to the invading Russian forces.
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