Nine European countries and Ukraine on Monday announced the formation of a coalition to develop “purely defensive” anti-ballistic capabilities in Europe, citing the growing threat of ballistic missiles. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was in Paris on Monday for a meeting of Kyiv’s allies to reaffirm support for the country and step up pressure on Russia to end the war, now well into its fifth year.

“We believe that the protection of Europe requires a global solution of integrated missile defence architecture to deter and defeat future missile threats,” said the joint declaration by Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

“By bringing together our defence industrial base, our research, and our operational experience, we aim to build a shared anti-ballistic missile capacity for Europe,” it said.

“We do this not against any people, but in defence of our own,” it added, citing the “unique experience of Ukraine” whose air defences have faced repeated Russian ballistic missile strikes in recent weeks. 

In a message on X, French President Emmanuel Macron said that with the launch of the anti-ballistic coalition, Europe was supporting Ukraine and strengthening the continent’s defence the capabilities.

‘Coalition of the Willing’

The announcement came hours after Zelensky arrived in France Monday for a ‌meeting of the “Coalition of the Willing”, part of broader efforts that include putting together ⁠a common position that could be taken to Russia, and security guarantees to support any eventual peace deal.

“We will… for the ‌first time, hold ​a meeting at the level of leaders, national ​security advisors, ​and defence ​companies from countries that ​can make a concrete contribution to building a new ⁠anti-ballistic system,” Zelensky ⁠said ​on X.

Monday’s meeting comes days after a NATO summit that aimed to show transatlantic ‌unity and long-term support for Ukraine.

The Kremlin dismissed the coalition as leaders who “do not want peace”, while saying that Moscow would be watching “closely”. 

“This is a coalition of warmongers,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, accusing the group of wanting to “continue the war” and adding: “These are the countries that are undertaking hostile actions against Russia, so we will be watching very closely.”

Russia launched missile and drone attacks on Ukraine on Saturday, killing ⁠eight people and wounding dozens more, officials said, as Zelensky called for efforts to provide Kyiv with weapons faster.

Coalition seeks to help Ukraine down ballistic missiles

“The ballistic missiles launched by (Russian President) Vladimir Putin are deliberately targeting ​civilian zones and June was one of the most murderous (months) since the start of the war,” ‌Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said in an interview with Ouest-France newspaper on Sunday.

Russia says it only attacks targets of military relevance and denies targeting civilians.

Briefing reporters ahead of Monday’s meetings, a French presidency official said the focus would be anti-ballistic-missile cooperation ranging from sourcing more US Patriot interceptors and advancing ‌the deployment of the Franco-Italian SAMP-T air defence system to looking at how the European and Ukrainian defence industries can develop alternatives.

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One option under consideration was for different European nations ​to cooperate on a system that would complement SAMP-T and/or Patriot and give Ukraine a significant role in production.

Ukraine is critically low on munitions for its systems and has been largely unable to down ballistic missiles, which travel at several times ​the speed of sound, over the past month.

It has pleaded with allies for more supplies and has also pushed Europe ​to work with it on its own anti-ballistic air defence system.

As Russia’s strikes have ​increased, Kyiv has also intensified drone attacks inside Russia, targeting oil facilities and weapons production to undermine Moscow’s economic ability to press on with its war.

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Leaders will also mull how ​to crimp Moscow’s sources of revenues, notably the “shadow fleet”, tankers with opaque ownership structures used to evade oversight to ship Russian oil.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)