Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday obtained from the United Kingdom the commitment of an upcoming delivery of anti-aircraft missiles and attack drones, and said he was "optimistic" about the supply of fighter jets that he demands from the West in the face of the Russian invasion.
To discover
- Follow the news about the war in Ukraine with the application of Le Figaro
After Rome, Berlin and Paris, the Ukrainian head of state continued his European tour in the very bucolic setting of the Chequers country residence of the British prime ministers, northwest of London. It is seeking an additional military commitment from its allies, in view of the counter-offensive that the Ukrainian army is preparing against Russian forces.
«
We want to create a coalition for planes and I am very optimistic about it, we talked about it and I think it will happen very soon," Zelensky told reporters after his meeting with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The Ukrainian leader has been asking his Western allies for months to provide him with such planes that would allow the Ukrainian army to strike deep into Russian troops, without constituting a miracle solution in the conflict.
LIVE - Russia says it shot down a Storm Shadow missile, supplied to Ukraine by the United Kingdom
Hundreds of missiles and attack drones
The UK will play "a key role in this coalition of countries that will provide this support" to Ukraine, Sunak said, adding that the training of Ukrainian pilots would begin "relatively soon". Even before his meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky, Rishi Sunak announced that the United Kingdom would deliver "hundreds of anti-aircraft missiles as well as hundreds of attack drones" with a range of more than 200 kilometers.
The equipment will be delivered "in the coming months as Ukraine prepares to intensify its resistance to the ongoing Russian invasion," Downing Street said in a statement. They will be in addition to the Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles that London announced last week that it had delivered to Kiev, becoming the first country to supply it with this type of weaponry.
Westerners have long been reluctant to supply long-range weapons to Kiev for fear of strikes on Russian territory provoking an escalation.