The Albany Gazette - Ukraine allies meet in Paris to boost air defence, pressure Russia

Representatives of the 37 coalition members, including Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, arrived at Les Invalides in the French capital for the summit of the Coalition of the Willing, launched by France and the United Kingdom to provide military support to Ukraine after Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The coalition is expected to announce the first joint exercises of the Multinational Force for Ukraine, to demonstrate its readiness to deploy once the fighting has ended, military sources said.

Leaders are also expected to focus on cooperation on air and missile defence with Ukraine, whose air defences have come under strain from repeated Russian ballistic missile strikes in recent weeks.

The meeting is "to make sure that the commitment is still there from all nations", Sweden's top military commander Michael Claesson told journalists.

Before the summit, nine European countries and Ukraine announced the formation of a coalition to develop "purely defensive" anti-ballistic capabilities for Europe, citing a growing threat from such missiles.

"We do this not against any people, but in defence of our own," said the joint declaration by Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

"We are stepping up our support for Ukraine. Strengthening its defences, increasing the pressure on Russia and building the security guarantees of tomorrow," added French President Emmanuel Macron on X with a photo of assembled attendees.

The meetings come the day before France's national public holiday Bastille Day, which includes a military parade that this year will highlight support for Ukraine.

During the traditional speech delivered to the armed forces before Bastille Day, Macron said Europe was "in the process of becoming a power" ready to "defend itself".

"The message we send to the world is this: Yes, peace is our goal. Yes, we cherish freedom and the rule of law. And yes, we stand ready to fight to defend them. Always, and at the cost of blood if necessary," Macron said.

Macron in his speech also called for more European defence industry partnerships, despite France and Germany last month abandoning a joint fighter jet programme.

- 'Coalition of warmongers' -

Moscow on Monday dismissed the summit as a gathering of leaders who "do not want peace".

"This is a coalition of warmongers," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

The summit comes at a "powerful moment of renewed transatlantic convergence and unity", but also of "more favourable developments on the ground" for Kyiv, the Elysee said.

US President Donald Trump, who has sought to maintain relations with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin while periodically criticising both Moscow and Kyiv, signalled his intention to offer greater support to Ukraine at the June G7 summit in France and the NATO meeting in Turkey this week.

The United States this month gave Ukraine permission to build US-designed Patriot air defence systems capable of downing ballistic missiles, but it may be months before they enter production.

Washington last week also advanced bipartisan legislation targeting countries buying Russian energy -- potentially clearing the way for stronger pressure on Moscow.

The United States is not formally part of the Coalition of the Willing and has ruled out any deployment of American ground troops, but would be involved in ceasefire monitoring.

France, Britain and Spain have said they are ready to send troops -- something Moscow has warned against, saying any foreign forces would be "legitimate targets".

Launched in February 2025, the coalition has met more than 15 times and in January, in the presence of American envoys, adopted the Paris Declaration setting out security guarantees to protect Ukraine from a new Russian attack as well as monitoring of an eventual ceasefire.

A ceasefire, however, remains a distant prospect as fighting rages, with Zelensky in recent days repeating his plea for allies to send more military aid to help Ukraine.

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(R.White--TAG)