Ukraine allies meet in Paris to boost air defense and increase pressure on Russia
At least 25 Western leaders gather in Paris on Monday for a 'Coalition of the Willing' meeting to bolster anti-ballistic missile defense for Ukraine and discuss ways to increase pressure on Russia, including curbing its oil exports.
Western allies will seek to secure more air-defense commitments for Ukraine when they meet in Paris on Monday, as shortages have left it increasingly exposed to Russian ballistic missiles, despite recent shifts in momentum on the battlefield.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will be joined by at least 25 leaders for a meeting of the 'Coalition of the Willing', part of broader efforts that include putting together a common position that could be taken to Russia, and security guarantees to support any eventual peace deal. Monday's meeting comes days after a NATO summit that aimed to show transatlantic unity and long-term support for Ukraine.
Russia launched missile and drone attacks on Ukraine on Saturday, killing eight people and wounding dozens more, officials said, as Zelensky called for efforts to provide Kyiv with weapons faster.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said in an interview that the ballistic missiles launched by Vladimir Putin are deliberately targeting civilian zones, and June was one of the bloodiest months since the start of the war. Russia says it only attacks targets of military relevance and denies targeting civilians.
Briefing reporters, a French presidency official said the focus would be anti-ballistic-missile cooperation ranging from sourcing more US Patriot interceptors and advancing the deployment of the Franco-Italian SAMP-T air defense system to looking at how the European and Ukrainian defense industries can develop alternatives. One option under consideration was for different European nations to cooperate on a system that would complement SAMP-T and/or Patriot and give Ukraine a significant role in production.
Ukraine is critically low on munitions for its systems and has been largely unable to down ballistic missiles over the past month. It has pleaded with allies for more supplies and has also pushed Europe to work with it on its own anti-ballistic air defense system.
Leaders will also mull how to crimp Moscow's sources of revenues, notably the 'shadow fleet' — tankers with opaque ownership structures used to evade oversight to ship Russian oil. The EU is also set to adopt a 21st package of sanctions on Russia next week.
French President Emmanuel Macron has promised announcements on Monday, some of them bilateral, potentially concerning joint arms production. He also said the coalition could announce joint military exercises as it seeks to make the concept of a future multinational force in Ukraine (MNFU) more of a practical reality. The French presidency official clarified that exercises would not take place in Ukraine.
