Ukraine signs letter of intent to buy up to 100 Rafales from France

PARIS (AP) — Ukraine signed a letter of intent to buy up to 100 Rafale warplanes from France, the Ukrainian Embassy and the French president’s office said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and French President Emmanuel Macron signed the document on Monday stating that Ukraine is considering the possibility of buying French defense equipment, including Rafale jet fighters, Macron’s office said. It did not provide further details.

Zelenskyy was on his ninth visit to Paris since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. His talks are meant to strengthen Ukraine’s defenses as the country enters another winter under Russian bombardment of its energy infrastructure and other targets.

On Monday morning, Macron and Zelenskyy visited an air base in the Paris outskirts, before heading to the headquarters of a multinational force, dubbed the “coalition of the willing,” that France and Britain have been preparing with more than 30 other nations to police an eventual ceasefire in Ukraine.

Zelenskyy wrote on X on Sunday that he looked forward to a “historic deal with France in Paris to strengthen our combat aviation and air defense.”

“We expect the Rafale, 100 Rafales, which is enormous but which is necessary for the regeneration of the Ukrainian army,” Macron said. “We have in the past months deployed our Mirage, and so we’re preparing the next generation. It’s also an opportunity for the Rafale and for Dassault.”

Fresh air-defense capabilities, in the form of new-generation SAMP/T systems, also are part of the French-Ukrainian cooperation, Macron added.

The updated weapon is being tested now for use by the French armed forces next year.

“We’re very quickly going to deploy it on the operational terrain,” Macron said. “It’s an opportunity for us to go faster, and to share also this technology with Ukraine.”

Last month, Ukraine and Sweden signed an agreement exploring the possibility of Ukraine buying up to 150 Swedish-made Gripen fighter jets over the next decade or more. Ukraine has already received American-made F-16s and French Mirages.

Defense News writer Rudy Ruitenberg in Paris contributed to this report.

巴黎（美联社）——乌克兰大使馆和法国总统办公室表示，乌克兰已签署意向书，将从法国购买至多 100 架阵风战斗机。

乌克兰总统泽连斯基和法国总统马克龙周一签署了一份文件，声明乌克兰正在考虑购买法国国防装备的可能性，其中包括“阵风”战斗机。马克龙办公室表示，该文件未提供更多细节。

这是泽连斯基自2022年2月俄罗斯全面入侵乌克兰以来第九次访问巴黎。此次会谈旨在加强乌克兰的防御，因为该国即将再次进入冬季，并遭受俄罗斯对其能源基础设施和其他目标的轰炸。

周一上午，马克龙和泽连斯基视察了巴黎郊区的一个空军基地，之后前往一支被称为“自愿联盟”的多国部队总部。这支部队由法国和英国与其他 30 多个国家共同组建，旨在维护乌克兰最终的停火。

泽连斯基周日在X上发文称，他期待着“在巴黎与法国达成一项历史性协议，以加强我们的作战航空和防空能力”。

马克龙表示：“我们期待着100架阵风战斗机的交付，这数量庞大，但对于乌克兰军队的重建至关重要。过去几个月，我们已经部署了幻影战斗机，因此我们正在为下一代战机做准备。这对阵风战斗机和达索公司来说也是一个机遇。”

马克龙补充说，新一代SAMP/T系统等新型防空能力也是法乌合作的一部分。

这款升级后的武器目前正在测试，计划明年供法国军队使用。

马克龙说：“我们将很快在作战区域部署这项技术。这对我们来说是一个加快步伐的机会，同时也能与乌克兰分享这项技术。”

上个月，乌克兰和瑞典签署了一项协议，探讨乌克兰在未来十年或更长时间内购买至多150架瑞典制造的“鹰狮”战斗机的可能性。乌克兰此前已接收了美国制造的F-16战斗机和法国制造的“幻影”战斗机。

《防务新闻》驻巴黎记者鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格对本报道亦有贡献。