Western allies will seek to secure more air-defence commitments for Ukraine when they meet in Paris on Monday, as shortages have left it increasingly exposed to Russian ballistic missiles, despite recent shifts in momentum on the battlefield. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will be joined by at least 25 leaders 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.

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-Noel 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, a French presidency official said the focus would be anti-ballistic-missile cooperation ranging from sourcing more U.S. 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. 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.

Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.