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Ukraine and nine European nations formally established an Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition on Monday, pledging to build a joint continental defense capability against ballistic threats as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pressed his allies for accelerated support ahead of another winter of anticipated Russian bombardment.
The founding members, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Ukraine, signed a joint declaration at the Hotel des Invalides in Paris, stating that "our goal is to build a shared ballistic missile defense capability for Europe."
The announcement came just hours before a separate summit of the broader 37-nation Coalition of the Willing, bringing together some 25 heads of state and government in what Western officials framed as a unified signal of resolve toward Moscow.
Zelenskyy, who held bilateral talks with French President Emmanuel Macron before the broader summits, said air defense was his country's most urgent need.
"Our top priority is anti-ballistic defense," he wrote on social media after arriving in the French capital. The two leaders described their meeting as productive, with the Ukrainian president noting that France's advanced technological capabilities made it a critical partner, and that their bilateral relationship had reached "a truly strategic level."
Macron received Ukraine's Order of Freedom from Zelenskyy during the meeting, a gesture the Ukrainian leader said was recognition of the French president's sustained personal engagement with Kyiv's cause.
The new coalition's founding declaration acknowledged "the growing threat posed by ballistic missiles" and called for an integrated missile defense architecture built through "collective effort, technological openness, and trusted industrial cooperation."
The grouping is intended to complement existing ballistic defense systems already operated or being acquired by its member states, and its charter explicitly leaves the door open to additional members that share its objectives.
Central to the coalition's agenda is Ukraine's homegrown Freya air defense system, developed by Kyiv-based defense firm Fire Point. Zelenskyy described the initiative as a potential alternative to the U.S.-made Patriot system, one designed for broader production at lower cost.
He had told reporters days earlier that European partners would need to supply components and industrial capacity that Ukraine does not yet possess, adding: "We can do this on our own, but it will take years. But now we can do it very quickly thanks to this anti-ballistic coalition."
The Freya system pairs an indigenously developed interceptor with European radar and command layers.
Fire Point has set a target of beginning mass production as early as August 2026, with a first ballistic intercept aimed for late 2027. Ukrainian officials presented a formal Anti-Ballistic Program to coalition partners, governments, national security advisers and prospective defense industry participants in Paris on Monday.
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