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France's President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy Monday (November 17, 2025) signed an accord for Kyiv to get up to 100 Rafale combatant jets and different hardware, a boost for Ukraine arsenic it fights the Russian invasion.
The missive of intent inked by the 2 leaders sets retired imaginable aboriginal contracts for Ukraine to get 100 Rafale combatant jets "with their associated weapons", the French presidency said.
It besides lays retired deals for the caller procreation SAMP-T aerial defence systems which are nether development, radar systems and drones.
The accord signed astatine France's Villacoublay aerial basal is not a acquisition and income declaration and is projected to beryllium realised "over a timeframe of astir 10 years", the presidency added.
Mr. Zelenskyy, who has suffered setbacks implicit the past week owed to a corruption ungraded astatine location and Russian forces closing successful connected the Ukrainian metropolis of Pokrovsk, wrote connected X up of gathering Mr. Macron that the accord would beryllium a "historic deal".
"A large day," Mr. Macron wrote successful a little station connected X successful French and Ukrainian implicit a representation of the woody being signed.
The purpose is to "enable it [Kyiv] to get the systems it needs to respond to Russian aggression", added a French statesmanlike official, asking not to beryllium named.
The Ukrainian President had already signed a missive of intent past period to get 100 to 150 Swedish Gripen combatant jets.
France has delivered Mirage combatant jets to Kyiv, but until present determination had been nary speech of Ukraine acquiring the Rafale, the crown jewel of French combat aviation.
Ukraine connected backfoot
The sojourn by Mr. Zelenskyy to France is his ninth since Russia launched its full-scale penetration of Ukraine successful February 2022.
It comes up of what analysts foretell volition beryllium a pugnacious wintertime for Kyiv arsenic Moscow presses connected the battlefield.
Overnight, Russian strikes killed 3 radical successful a metropolis successful Ukraine's eastbound Kharkiv region, its subject medication main said. Seven radical were killed aft Russia struck flat blocks crossed the superior Kyiv connected Friday.
The Russian Army seized 3 much villages crossed eastbound Ukraine, the defence ministry successful Moscow said Monday, the latest successful its grinding advance.
Efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump to unit a bid woody person stalled arsenic Moscow has rejected calls for a ceasefire and refused to driblet hardline territorial demands.
Mr. Zelenskyy astatine the play announced an overhaul of state-owned vigor companies aft a corruption scandal, ordering 2 ministers to resign and sanctioning a erstwhile concern spouse who was named arsenic its mastermind.
France's Europe Minister Benjamin Haddad said successful a tv interrogation connected Saturday that governments had to beryllium "extraordinarily vigilant" astir corruption arsenic Ukraine presses its lawsuit to articulation the European Union.
Mr. Zelenskyy's sojourn is portion of a little circuit of his occidental allies that saw him seal an vigor woody with Greece connected Sunday, and volition see a sojourn to Spain connected Tuesday.
Mr. Macron and Mr. Zelenskyy besides visited the office of a Ukraine multinational unit that France and Britain are preparing successful the lawsuit an planetary unit is deployed successful Ukraine aft immoderate ceasefire.
The office astatine Mont Valerien, westbound of Paris, is wherever countries from the "coalition of the willing" organised by France and Britain person sent officers to hole the force.
France says that 34 countries and Ukraine person already offered to instrumentality part.
