The French Ministry of the Armed Forces announced that Paris and Rome will provide advanced weapons to their ally, Kyiv, to help it protect itself from Russian air attacks, at a time when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that his country would not abandon the besieged city of Bakhmut, which he described as a fortress.

The French ministry said in a statement on Friday evening that Paris and Rome will present to Kiev in the spring a medium-range surface-to-air defense system of the type "Mamba" (Mamba) to help Ukraine "protect itself from Russian attacks targeting it with drones, missiles and aircraft."

The ministry added that the provision of this system meets the urgent need expressed by Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov to his French and Italian counterparts, to protect the civilian population and infrastructure from Russian air attacks.

The statement indicated that the French Minister of the Armed Forces, Sebastien Locorno, held a telephone conversation on Friday with the Italian Minister of Defense, Guido Crosito, to put the final touches on this military donation, which was under discussion during the past weeks.

In its statement, the ministry said, "The two ministers concluded technical discussions (...) related to the delivery to Ukraine in spring 2023 of the SAMP / T Mamba air defense system. This is the first European anti-missile system, of a joint French-Italian design."

Mamba is an auxiliary system for the US Patriot system deployed in Romania to protect the strategic port of Constanta on the Black Sea. It is used to protect sensitive tactical sites such as airports and ports from various threats that may be exposed to it.

For months, Kyiv has been calling for strengthening its ground defenses against air attacks, especially after Russian forces targeted, by means of booby-trapped Iranian drones, much of the basic infrastructure in Ukraine, according to what the latter says.

Zelensky confirmed his country's adherence to the city of Bakhmut, which has been besieged by Russian forces for weeks in order to control it (Reuters)

"We will not abandon Bakhmut"

In a related context, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that Ukraine will not give up the besieged city of Bakhmut in the east of the country.

"We will fight as long as we can," he said at the end of a summit of the European Union and Ukraine held in Kyiv, describing Bakhmut as "a fortress."

For months, the Russian forces have been trying to extract the strategic Bakhmut from the Ukrainian forces, with the support of the militants of the Russian "Wagner" security group, and it was reported a few days ago that the attacking forces succeeded in completely surrounding it.

Zelensky renewed his call for more and stronger weapons to counter Moscow's attacks.

He said, "The more long-range missiles we have, and the better our artillery is equipped, the faster the Russian aggression will end and the greater European security and freedom will be protected," as he put it.

Brussels called for tougher sanctions against Russia.

"We are concerned that Russia does not get a chance to revive its arms industry," he added, adding that punitive measures have so far only slowed down Russian efforts.

He continued, "If there is a faster delivery of arms shipments, and weapons with a longer range, then we will not only retreat from Bakhmut, but we will begin to liberate Donbass, which has been occupied since 2014."


accession to the European Union

The European Union pledged to support Ukraine in its efforts to join it, during the EU-Ukraine summit held in Kyiv on Friday.

In a statement after the summit, the federation said it would take further steps once all conditions were met.

For his part, the Ukrainian president said that his country's goal is clear, which is to start negotiations on its membership in the European Union.

He stressed that Kyiv will not waste a single day to advance towards joining the Union.

He renewed his country's need for long-range weapons, due to their ability to speed up the resolution of battles, as he put it.

The Ukrainian president said that there is an understanding about the possibility of starting negotiations on Ukraine's membership in the European Union this year.

Despite Zelensky's optimistic statements about the start of negotiations for Kyiv's accession to the Union, the European bloc sets conditions that are not simple for any country wishing to join.