has signed an agreement with to acquire up to 100 Rafale fighter jets. The document will have a duration of 10 years and thanks to it kyiv will be able to have improved models of the aircraft, several radars, reserves of missiles and guided bombs, and eight SAMP-T surface-to-air missile systems, according to the Ukrainian president, has described the agreement as “historic.”
The signing of the document took place during the Ukrainian’s ninth official visit to France to strengthen the “energy, economic and defense ties” between both nations, as well as to visit with the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, the headquarters of the “Ukrainian multinational force”, composed of 35 countries.
“We are going to continue supporting Ukraine to regenerate and modernize its armed forces and have the deterrent capacity against aggression,” stressed Macron, who assured that this agreement is “a demonstration of France’s will to put its industrial and technological excellence at the heart of Ukraine and Europe.”
French aid comes at a key point in the conflict. Just as American efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement appear to have slowed just a few months shy of the fourth anniversary of the war. “This agreement between France and Ukraine is a political blow for Russia,” defended Oleksandr Merezhko, chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the Ukrainian parliament.
“We are entering a new stage in our collaboration because Ukraine is Europe’s first line of defense (…) If Ukraine does not have a robust and credible force, Russia will continue to attack,” warned the French president, who has made it clear that his objective is “a lasting and just peace, which allows Ukraine to be a sovereign, independent, free and European country.”
