Zelensky says France to accelerate air defence deliveries to Ukraine

Kyiv, Aug 23 (IANS) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that France has agreed to accelerate the delivery of equipment and missiles to Ukraine and will provide licenses for the production of relevant missiles, following a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Zelensky said in a social media post on Saturday that he briefed Macron on recent strikes on Ukrainian territory, stressing that air defence systems remain Ukraine’s most pressing need. He said Macron expressed readiness to help facilitate communication between Ukraine and other partner countries that have the necessary missiles for the Patriot air defense system, reports Xinhua news agency.

Taking to social media platform X, Zelensky wrote: ” had a very good call with @EmmanuelMacron, the President of France. We spoke for almost two hours today about all the most important issues. And this concerns, first and foremost, the need for air defense. We highly appreciate that the President of France is ready to help communicate with our other partners who have the necessary missiles for Patriots. We also discussed French air defense capabilities. I briefed Emmanuel on the situation with the strikes. I’m grateful for the condolences over the lives lost.”

“We also discussed the state of diplomatic work with our partners and communication with the team of the President of the United States. We agreed on steps that could open up additional diplomatic opportunities. We also discussed the need for funding to finance our defense this year and next year. We identified defense agreements that need to be accelerated in our bilateral relations,” he added.

Macron also posted on social media that he was shocked by the heavy civilian casualties caused by a strike on a shopping center in Ukraine. He said he had confirmed with Zelensky that France would step up support for Ukraine’s air defense capabilities, in particular by providing interceptor missiles.

According to Ukrainian national news agency Ukrinform, Russian drone strikes hit a shopping center and other facilities in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih on Friday, killing at least 16 people and wounding 130 others.

–IANS

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