Russia accused France of fuelling a pro-war sentiment on Tuesday after Paris agreed to provide up to 100 Rafale fighter jets and other military supplies to Ukraine over the next 10 years.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a letter of intent on Monday in Paris. It sets out future weapons supplies as part of Zelensky's visit.
The deal will allow Ukraine to acquire 100 Rafale fighter jets "with their associated weapons", the French presidency said.
The accord, signed at France's Villacoublay air base, is not a purchase and sales contract and is projected to be realised "over a timeframe of about 10 years", the presidency added.
It also covers new generation SAMP-T air defence systems still in development, plus radar systems and drones.
Russia accused France of fuelling war. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters: "Paris is in no way contributing to peace, but rather fuelling militaristic and pro-war sentiment."
Spokesperson for the French Foreign Ministry, Pascal Confavreux, told public broadcaster Franceinfo on Monday that the accord represented a message to Russia.
France's Macron and Ukraine's Zelensky pave way for jets and air defence deal
"There is no European fatigue in the support we are providing to Ukraine," he said. "The idea is to show that we support the Ukrainian army and that, in the long term, we are creating a deterrent for the Russians so that they are discouraged from attacking Ukraine again."
France has previously delivered Mirage fighter jets to Kyiv, but until now there had been no talk of Ukraine acquiring the Rafale – the crown jewel of French combat aviation.
Russia has criticised NATO countries for supplying arms to Ukraine since its invasion of the latter in February 2022, and says they make no difference on the battlefield.
"No matter what aircraft are sold to the Kyiv regime, this will not change the situation on the front lines and cannot change the dynamics," Peskov said on Tuesday.
Tough winter ahead
Zelensky's visit to France was his ninth since the start of the war in 2022. It came ahead of what analysts predict will be a tough winter for Ukraine. Moscow has been intensifying its daily drone and missile barrages in recent months, targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure and hitting a number of civilian sites.
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The defence ministry in Moscow said on Monday that the Russian army had seized three more villages across eastern Ukraine.
A Russian missile attack killed a teenage girl and wounded at least nine people in the eastern Kharkiv region, its governor said on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Zelensky will head to Turkey on Wednesday seeking to revive the United States' involvement in diplomatic efforts to end the war, a Ukrainian official told French news agency AFP.
Peace efforts have faltered, after several rounds of Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul this year failed to yield a breakthrough. Moscow has not agreed to a ceasefire and instead has continued to advance on the front and bombard Ukrainian cities.
Zelensky will meet his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Wednesday, where his "main goal is for the Americans to re-engage" in peace efforts, a senior Ukrainian official told AFP.
Kyiv is hoping Washington will be able to push Russia to the negotiating table, including by imposing sanctions. American lawmakers are working on a bill to strengthen sanctions against Russia by potentially imposing tariffs on all countries buying its oil and gas.
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Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy for Peace Missions, is also expected in Turkey, another Ukrainian official told AFP.
The Kremlin said that no Russian official will be present at the talks, adding that it remains open to talks to resolve the war in Ukraine.
Prisoner exchanges and the repatriation of fallen soldiers' bodies were the only tangible results of the talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul between May and July, but they slowed down.
Lead negotiator Rustem Umerov said he sought to resume prisoners exchanges, aiming to release around 1,200 Ukrainians.
(with AFP)
