Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky visits Paris on Monday in a new bid to secure weaponry to defend his country against increasingly lethal Russian missile and drone attacks.

Zelensky’s visit is part of a brief tour of his western allies that saw him seal an energy deal with Greece on Sunday and will include a visit to Spain on Tuesday.

The Ukrainian leader has said that “a major deal with France” will be announced soon, but it was not known if that would be finalised in his talks with President Emmanuel Macron.

The French presidency said Macron would “put French excellence in the armaments industry field at the service of the defence of Ukraine”. Paris, he said, would propose ways to allow Ukraine “to acquire the systems that it needs to answer Russian aggression”.

Macron’s office

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