President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that France is ready to cooperate with Ukraine on creating countermeasures against ballistic missiles.
The head of state announced this on Telegram on May 16 following a conversation with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.
As Zelensky said, he and the French leader discussed “many issues” and “coordinated in all directions.”
“I thanked Emmanuel for his principled condemnation of Russian attacks on our cities and communities. These strikes demonstrate very clearly what Russia is and why we all need to strengthen our common defense against all threats. France is ready to work on anti-ballistic missiles. This is a strong decision and an important step. We also discussed strengthening our capabilities to repel Russian attacks now,” the president said.
Also, according to him, the discussion focused on the European track and the opening of all negotiation clusters with the European Union in the near future.
“France supports Ukraine and understands how important this step is for all Ukrainians. Emmanuel informed about his visit to African countries. We talked about the importance of joint coordination in this direction, because it is equally important for Ukraine. We agreed on our contacts in the near future,” Zelensky added.
The president has repeatedly stated that he had asked the US for a license to produce Patriot air defense systems. In particular, in December 2024, in an interview with Le Parisien, he said that “nobody seems to be against it,” but “we haven't received anything yet.” Also in the same month, the head of state estimated Ukraine's need for Patriot at 10-12 units.
On February 17, 2026, Zelenskyy stated that Europe could strengthen its air defenses more quickly if it received licenses to produce missiles, but the US ultimately did not agree to this.
At the end of March, he said that Ukraine was working on the possibility of producing its own anti-ballistic missiles.