Sawt Falasteen - Ukraine backers gather as war escalates, air defence runs low

The meeting of the Coalition of the Willing will be jointly chaired by the leaders of Britain, France and Germany.

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham will be in Kyiv for his first international trip since entering 10 Downing Street, and several other leaders are expected to join remotely.

EU Council President Antonio Costa is also due in Kyiv for the talks, which come amid the latest, deadly escalation of the war.

Russia has been pounding Kyiv with ballistic missiles in recent weeks, ripping open apartment blocks and killing dozens of citizens in the capital.

The escalating Russian strikes have pushed civilian deaths to their highest levels since the first months of Russia's 2022 invasion.

After almost every attack -- which sees tens of thousands hunker in the Kyiv metro system and many more in basements and other shelters across the city -- Zelensky has issued public pleas for more air-defence support.

- UK, French support -

Ukraine celebrates independence day on Monday, which also marks exactly four-and-a-half years since Russia invaded on February 24, 2022.

"Russia should be in no doubt of our resolve," Burnham said in a statement before his arrival in Kyiv.

"We will not back down until there is a just and lasting peace."

Diplomacy on ending the conflict -- Europe's largest since World War II -- is effectively frozen.

Russia is demanding hardline territorial and political concessions that Kyiv has rejected as a capitulation that would only enable another Russian attack.

Burnham is set to announce that the British government is authorising defence firm MBDA to release classified information needed to help Ukraine and France set up local production of the long-range SCALP missile.

And on Saturday, French President Emmanuel Macron pledged Paris would deliver new interceptor missiles.

"It is crucial to provide Ukraine with all the necessary means to defend its skies and thwart this aggression," Macron wrote on X.

The ballistic missiles Russia has been firing in their dozens are incredibly fast and travel with a high-arching trajectory, making them difficult to stop.

Kyiv's home-grown weapons cannot shoot them down, meaning Ukraine is reliant on advanced systems -- chiefly, US Patriot interceptors -- to protect its skies.

But amid shortfalls globally since the US launched its war on Iran, Ukraine has been left exposed.

- Ukraine's missiles shortfall -

Ahead of the meeting, Zelensky revealed the extent of the deficit, releasing usually closely guarded numbers.

He said deliveries of crucial Patriot interceptors had halved since 2023.

"Over the entire of 2023, Ukraine received 675 missiles, and over all of 2025 -- 364, even though Russian missile strikes have increased," Zelensky said.

"For 2026, as currently projected, it is 264," he added, saying Ukraine was seeking a package of at least 300 for the upcoming winter.

The United States faces its own shortfall of the missiles amid its war on Iran and has resisted releasing large numbers to Ukraine.

Zelensky said Russia could produce around 100 ballistic missiles a month.

Ukraine, meanwhile, has accelerated its own campaign of long-range strikes on Russian energy and logistics sites -- including oil refineries and retail warehouses.

The Coalition of the Willing is a Franco-British initiative to deliver support to Ukraine and ramp up pressure on Russia.

Originally designed as a group of countries that would be willing to deploy peacekeeping troops to Ukraine in the event a ceasefire was reached, it has become a parallel forum for marshalling support to Ukraine amid uncertainty over US commitments under Donald Trump.

J.AbuShaban--SF-PST