British Prime Minister Andy Burnham confirmed the start of joint production with Ukraine of Storm Shadow/Scalp cruise missiles, saying Britain has agreed to share the technology needed for Ukraine to build the weapons itself. French President Emmanuel Macron pledged to speed up licensing so Ukraine can produce its own air defence interceptors.
The announcements came at the start of a summit of the Coalition of the Willing in Kyiv, according to a UNIAN correspondent.
Burnham, who travelled to Kyiv in person, said Britain was the first country to give Ukraine long-range weapons, back in 2023.
He said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had asked Britain to share Storm Shadow technology so Ukraine could build up the capability on its own. Burnham said he was pleased to confirm he had approved the request and had reached out to British and French industry, thanking Macron and his colleagues for agreeing to work with Ukraine on developing the capability.
Burnham said he was also asking British industry to back the European FREYJA anti-ballistic missile project, aiming to create a cheaper alternative to American Patriot systems for intercepting ballistic missiles.
He said it was now clear that Russia was running out of options in the war, and that President Vladimir Putin was hoping to win through a campaign of terror, using ballistic missiles against Ukrainian civilians. He pointed to recent strikes on a children's hospital and a kindergarten, saying this could never be the basis for victory and that this had to be stated clearly. Burnham said allies, including those outside the Coalition of the Willing, needed to do everything possible and dig deep into their own air defence stockpiles to meet Ukraine's needs.
France to speed up air defence licensing
Macron, who joined the summit by video link, said it was becoming harder for Russia's leadership to hide from its own population the real cost of the war and the strategic failure it had become.
He said it had become clear last week that the supply of interceptor missiles needed to be accelerated, and recalled that the integrated FREYJA anti-ballistic shield coalition had begun work on 13 July.
Macron said he considered it very important for all partners to speed up deliveries. He said that two days earlier he had held a two-hour discussion with Zelensky, and that France would accelerate work on everything it had available, while he and his colleagues would speed up licensing so Ukraine could produce more of its own capabilities. He said it was obvious that Ukraine lacked interceptor missiles and missile defence capacity, with direct consequences for people's lives. Macron did not specify which particular air defence system Ukraine would be licensed to produce.
Zelensky calls for a Patriot 'winter package'
Zelensky said Britain remained a genuine leader in supporting Ukraine's defence and European security, thanking British and French officials and saying the decisions taken would strengthen Ukraine's army.
He said Ukraine needed a "winter package" of Patriot missiles, adding that it needed at least 300 Patriot missiles for the winter and the cold months, and that he hoped the package would materialise. He said work needed to continue through the PURL mechanism, along with ongoing dialogue and a search for further solutions.
Background to the missile programme
Storm Shadow, known in France as Scalp, is a long-range air-launched cruise missile jointly developed by Britain and France that has already been supplied to Ukraine. UNIAN has previously reported that Britain would pass Ukraine classified data for producing Storm Shadow/Scalp missiles and had promised to help Ukraine destroy Russian missiles before launch. Ukraine has also ordered four batteries of the French-Italian SAMP/T NG air defence system, which is intended to be capable of intercepting ballistic missiles.
