Description: Ukraine’s President, Volodymir Zelenskyy and France’s Emmanuel Macron, signed a letter of intent for the purchase of up to 100 Rafale fighter jets by Ukraine. The ceremony was held at the Villacoublay military airport and was meant to signal continued support for Ukraine by its European partners. The leaders didn’t specify a precise timeline for the delivery of the jets while the financing still posed a significant problem since EU countries on multiple occasions failed to adopt a decision to use Russian frozen funds to finance Ukraine’s rearmament and the supply of more resources for the country’s military in its war against Russia. Both France and Ukraine are also struggling with other domestic crises such as the corruption scandal that compromised the foundations of Zelenskyy’s political future from last week and Macron’s domestic political crisis regarding the formulation of the national budget and the French President’s rapid decline of popularity and approval ratings.
Impact: Zelensky continues to engage with partner countries in order to garner the necessary amount of support and resources in order to resist the increased Russian military advances and to tackle the energy crisis gripping the country. Following Zelenskyy’s visit to Greece, where he secured a steady supply of LNG from the US, through Greek ports, the signing of the letter of intent with the French President distances Zelenskyy from the domestic scandal and keeps his political integrity afloat on the international stage. The reported acquisition of the Rafale fighter jets could be problematic if it fails to deliver in the next couple of months as the purchase could be blocked by bureaucracy within the European Union while the domestic crises in several countries across Europe could further stifle progress on supporting Ukraine’s defensive efforts. Another major issue would be the training of the pilots, which is a long-lasting process, especially with sophisticated fighter jets such as the Rafale. The expediency of the delivery of the jets could substantially impact the current state of the battlefronts, since the war has moved towards leveraging aerial assets to achieve superiority on the ground.