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Europe must build a stronger, more reliable, and more affordable ballistic missile defense system, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at the inaugural meeting of the newly established Anti-Ballistic Coalition, calling the initiative a historic step toward strengthening European security, UATV English reports.
According to Zelenskyy, Ukraine is ready to make a key contribution to the project by providing the FREYJA interceptor missile, whose development is nearing completion.
“Today’s meeting of the Anti-Ballistic Coalition can and should become historic. Europe needs a strong, reliable, and more affordable missile defense system that we can build together,” Zelenskyy said.
The president stressed that FREYJA should become a shared European project.
“It is important to make the political decision that FREYJA is our common project in the interests of all of Europe. I am grateful that this work has already begun,” he said.
Zelenskyy noted that the coalition already includes European countries with advanced capabilities in missile defense technologies—Ukraine, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Spain—along with NATO and European Union leadership. He added that Ukraine welcomes the participation of additional partners.
The Ukrainian leader said representatives of major European defense companies, including Thales, HENSOLDT, Diehl Defence, Saab, Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, Leonardo, MBDA, Eurosam, Safran, Weibel, Destinus, and FP, have already joined the initiative.
According to Zelenskyy, Ukraine is prepared to deliver its part of the project through the FREYJA interceptor missile, while other partners possess the radar systems and other critical technologies needed to build an integrated European missile defense architecture.
He argued that existing missile defense capabilities remain insufficient to counter the growing ballistic missile threat.
“While the United States is increasing production of Patriot systems and Europe is expanding production of SAMP/T, IRIS-T, and NASAMS, demand for protection against ballistic threats still exceeds current capacity,” Zelenskyy said.
The Anti-Ballistic Coalition was formally established by Ukraine and nine European countries earlier this week to jointly develop a continent-wide missile defense capability through coordinated technological development, industrial cooperation, and shared financing.
Russia is making its final strategic bet on ballistic missile attacks against Ukrainian cities and villages, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, warning that Europe must rapidly strengthen its missile defense capabilities to counter a growing global ballistic threat.
According to Zelenskyy, Moscow’s strategy mirrors that of Iran, while Russia’s military cooperation with North Korea has already contributed to improvements in Pyongyang’s ballistic missile technology.
“Russia is making its final bet on ballistic missile strikes against Ukraine’s cities and villages,” Zelenskyy said.
The Ukrainian president warned that the number of ballistic missiles worldwide will continue to grow, making the development of advanced missile defense systems an urgent priority.
“There will be more and more ballistic missiles in the world. Therefore, there must be at least enough anti-ballistic systems to protect against them,” he said.
Zelenskyy argued that Europe has the technological and industrial potential to become a global leader in the production of modern missile defense systems without political dependence on external suppliers.
He emphasized that European countries should independently determine how many missile defense systems they require and where they should be deployed.
According to the president, such an approach would create a new European security architecture and provide a long-term strategic foundation for protecting the entire continent from future ballistic missile threats.
Read also: Ukraine, Nine European Nations Launch Integrated Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition
