Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to Sweden Thursday for discussions with Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson regarding bilateral defense cooperation, according to statements from both the Ukrainian leader and Swedish government.
The nations are developing “a major defense package” and negotiating an agreement to supply Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine, Zelenskyy announced on social media.
The Ukrainian president has worked to expand defense partnerships with other nations by sharing the drone technology expertise his country has developed during more than four years of conflict with Russia’s invasion.
According to Zelenskyy, Ukrainian experts have assisted Middle Eastern countries — particularly in the Gulf Arab region — in bolstering their air defense capabilities during the Iran war. He also states they have provided support at American military installations in the Middle East. Ukraine has additionally signed joint drone manufacturing deals with European Union nations, which worry that Russian President Vladimir Putin harbors military goals extending past Ukraine.
Ukrainian drones monitoring the 1,250-kilometer (780-mile) battle line and attacking supply routes at greater distances have constrained Russia’s larger military force.
“Ukraine’s successful mid-range and front-line drone strike campaigns are limiting Russia’s ability to transport personnel to the front line and to supply and sustain front-line positions,” stated the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, in a Wednesday evening analysis.
Russia has seized approximately 20% of Ukrainian territory thus far. This includes the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia captured in 2014. The price of taking that territory has been enormous, with the leader of U.K.’s GCHQ intelligence agency stating Wednesday that nearly half a million Russian soldiers have died in the conflict.
Russia, nevertheless, maintains superiority in long-range ballistic missiles, which it has deployed consistently throughout the war to harm Ukraine’s electrical infrastructure and bombard urban areas.
Russian military units launched nearly 90 missiles along with hundreds of drones targeting Kyiv last weekend in an attempt to overpower air defenses as part of its intensifying long-distance aerial offensive against Ukrainian civilian zones.
Zelenskyy has sent correspondence to U.S. President Donald Trump and Congress requesting additional American-manufactured air defense ammunition to counter Russian ballistic missiles, Kyiv officials announced Wednesday.
Ukraine requires more U.S. Patriot PAC-3 missiles and additional air defense systems, Zelenskyy stated in the correspondence, cautioning that shipments to Ukraine are falling perilously behind as the Iran war redirects U.S. supplies.
The Ukrainian capital is preparing for additional heavy attacks. However, no foreign diplomats are reported to have followed Moscow’s suggestion to evacuate Kyiv before what the Russian Foreign Ministry announced earlier this week would be “systemic strikes” on Kyiv.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry reported Thursday that all diplomatic missions in the capital have maintained normal operations.
