Ten European countries, including Ukraine, announced the creation of an integrated anti-ballistic missile defense coalition. The group includes Britain and eight European Union nations — Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Denmark.
The declaration, published by the Elysee Palace, states the coalition is open to other European states joining. The coalition plans to build an integrated missile defense architecture to deter future missile threats, complementing existing and planned missile defense systems in Europe.
According to the statement on the Elysee Palace website, the coalition members are 'combining the defense-industrial base, research and operational experience' to 'create a common missile defense capability for Europe.' The founders described the system as 'exclusively defensive' and said they 'are doing this not against any people, but in defense of their own.'
In the first phase, coalition members plan to establish technical working groups and begin developing a 'road map' to assess common operational capabilities.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on his Telegram channel that 'strong and sufficient anti-ballistic capabilities are needed to end Russia's war against Ukraine.' He said they are 'no less important than deep or middle strikes on [targets in] Russia's war economy or active operations on the front line.' Zelensky added that the more means Ukraine has to intercept Russian ballistic missiles, the higher the likelihood that Russian President Vladimir Putin will 'sit down at the negotiating table.'
The declaration was published on the first day of Zelensky's visit to Paris for a meeting of the 'Coalition of the Willing.' The creation of the missile defense coalition comes amid deteriorating relations between European countries and the United States and threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to withdraw the country from NATO. Washington had previously demanded European allies take greater responsibility for the continent's security. According to media reports, the U.S. plans to reduce the number of fighter jets and submarines deployed to Europe but is considering stationing additional nuclear-capable bombers in the region.