Macron and Zelensky sign a letter of intent for Ukraine to purchase up to 100 Rafale fighter jets

Side by side at the Villa Kublé air base, French President Emanuel Macron and his Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir Zalinski signed a letter of intent. It’s a political promise for air defense cooperation in a deal dubbed historic by the Ukrainian president. The most important is that we give hope to other nations. Hope that Russia will not make war a norm. Ukraine is not alone in its defense. It’s not abandoned. And France knows very well how important it is for us. The deal includes air defense systems, warplanes, and drones, aiming to strengthen Ukraine’s war efforts amid intensifying attacks and military gains from Russia. In a first for Ukraine, KEF can now purchase up to 100 new generation Rafal fighter jets capable of reconnaissance missions and air defense under a 10-year agreement. Ukraine can acquire up to 100 new generation Rafal fighter jets, including complete rearmament. It’s a new era beginning after the delivery of the Mirage 2000s, which took place several months ago with the training of the pilots. So we are going to commit to deploying up to 100 Rafale fighter jets with the accompanying training programs and of course production schedules. We have shown that in the short term and in the years to come we will stand with Ukraine. How the acquisition will be financed and produced however remains uncertain. On the table are also surfaceto-air missile systems. The European-made missiles are used to intercept threats such as guided ground or air missiles. Macron said they are under development scheduled for 2026. Another addition to Ukraine’s defense tech will be French radars used to detect enemy arms like ballistic missiles and drones. The deal comes amid internal struggles for both leaders. Zilinski suffered setbacks due to a corruption scandal in Ukraine. While France’s capability to provide military support was questioned amid Paris’s ongoing political and budgetary instability, France is only the latest stop on Zilinsk’s list. Over the weekend, he signed liqufied natural gas deal with Greece and on Tuesday he is expected in Spain where he will focus on securing more military guarantees.

France’s President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky signed on Monday an accord for Kyiv to acquire up to 100 Rafale fighter jets and other hardware, a boost for Ukraine’s war effort. Elitsa Gadeva gives us the details on what exactly the deal entails .
#Macron #Zalensky #Ukraine

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32 comments

  2. Lol at intent. Intent is useless without the actual purchase. Ukraine and (France) are too broke to actually buy anything significant for the war right now.

  8. Ukraine is heading toward a strategic defeat, writes Bild military commentator

    He says the situation can no longer be covered up by PR campaigns from Kiev’s General Staff or by government attempts to downplay or ignore reality.

    According to him, Ukrainian journalists and activists understand how serious things have become, but neither the Ukrainian army nor its Western backers are learning the necessary lessons from their previous failures.

    Röpcke argues that sending Western armored vehicles is pointless given Russia’s growing dominance in fiber-optic and other advanced drone systems.

    He adds that Western countries remain limited to sporadic aid and misguided investments in overhyped long-range Ukrainian drones, calling instead for supplying Kiev with missiles and "millions of FPV drones."

    He also criticizes the Ukrainian authorities.

    Röpcke notes that Kiev seems to take this war of destruction only partially seriously. The supposed 17,000 men mobilized each month are nowhere to be found on the front, and observers and soldiers alike are left guessing where they actually are. Desertion and long absences from duty — which leave entire brigades existing only on paper — go largely unpunished.

    This leads to false assessments of troop strength, major gaps on the frontline, and repeated Russian breakthroughs.

    He believes November will likely set a new annual record for territorial losses.

    This rate of collapse, he writes, means Ukraine could lose territory each month equal to the size of Berlin.

    U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated in November 2025 that U.S. air-defense systems supplied to Kyiv, including Patriot systems, were being destroyed by Russian forces "in just one week". He described this situation as a major problem, indicating that American weapons in Ukraine had been consistently destroyed over the past two to three years.

    U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has publicly stated that the U.S. is "running out of options" for new sanctions against Russia and that the focus is now on enforcing existing measures rather than imposing new ones, implying the current strategy has reached its limit in effectiveness.

    Sanction Exhaustion: After the U.S. sanctioned Russia's major oil companies (Rosneft and Lukoil) in October 2025, Rubio indicated there was "not a lot left to sanction from our part".

  13. Great. The virtuoso piano plaer promist to purchase equipment with money he will never have😂😂. And the family man Macron promised to sell equipment for money he will never receive.

  16. To deliver 100 rafales you need to wait years. Not to mention that you need to have the proper infrastructure in Ukraine to accommodate the Rafale fighters, something that Ukraine deeply does not have and Russia won't even allow it. This is just another Picture that Macron wanted for his fake history.

  30. How do you know these jets are good? Because all the bot accounts won’t stop complaining about them. 😂 Russia must be terrified of these things. And seeing how badly the Russian airforce has done against old Soviet fighters, modern French ones, must be a nightmare for the Russians. And 100 of them? 🎉

  32. Ukraine doesn't show any sign of wanting to end the war. He doesn't want to capitulate. He doesn't want to loose territory. He doesn't want to loose an ally and wants to be part of NATO. Have fun fighting!

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