Ukraine war briefing: France to start making weapons with Kyiv

Ukraine and France have agreed to start joint weapons production, the Ukrainian defence minister said on Monday after hosting his French counterpart in Kyiv. Mykhailo Fedorov said the two countries signed a letter of intent paving the way for “large-scale joint projects in the defence-industrial sector”. He did not specify what arms would be produced with France or when manufacturing would start. “We are moving from supplies to joint production and long-term solutions that systematically strengthen our defence,” Fedorov said on Telegram after the meeting with France’s armed forces minister, Catherine Vautrin, in the Ukrainian capital. Ukraine and France also discussed new shipments of French weapons and military equipment to Kyiv, including of Aster missiles, Mirage 2000 fighter jets and SAMP-T air defence systems.

Ukraine is opening up exports of its domestically produced weapons, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said – a way for Kyiv to cash in on its wartime technological advances to generate badly needed funds. He said 10 “export centres” for Ukrainian weapons would be opened in 2026 across Europe, adding that combat drones, also known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), would be among the exports. “Today, Europe’s security is built on technology and drones,” Zelenskyy said. “All of this will be based largely on Ukrainian technology and Ukrainian specialists.”

Russian attacks damaged production sites of Ukraine’s state-run oil and gas company Naftogaz in the Poltava and Sumy regions, the company’s CEO said on Monday. The facilities in the Poltava region came under attack for a second day in a row, Sergii Koretskyi said on Facebook, adding it was the 20th attack on the company’s infrastructure since the start of the year.

Russia’s military is scrambling to find alternatives to Starlink satellite internet after access to the network was curtailed, disrupting a key communications system that its forces had been using illicitly on the battlefield, reports Pjotr Sauer. Ukraine said last week that Starlink terminals being used by Russian troops had been deactivated after talks between its defence minister and Elon Musk, whose company SpaceX operates the satellite network. Ukrainian officials said the move had already begun to affect Russian operations, including the use of drones.

Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych said on Monday a helmet he has used in training at the 2026 Winter Olympics with images of compatriots killed during the war in Ukraine could not be used in Olympic competition after being told by the International Olympic Committee that it violated a rule on political statements. Heraskevych – his country’s flag bearer at the Games – said IOC representative Toshio Tsurunaga had gone to the athletes’ village to inform him. The decision to wear the helmet in Milan earned praise from Zelenskyy, who on Telegram thanked Heraskevych “for reminding the world of the price of our struggle”.

The UK government has been urged to re-examine a British company’s contract to export hi-tech machinery to Armenia, after the Guardian uncovered links to the supply chain for Russia’s war machine, reports Rob Davies. Sanctions experts and the chair of the House of Commons business committee questioned the government’s decision to award an export licence to Cygnet Texkimp.

The EU has proposed extending its sanctions against Russia to include ports in Georgia and Indonesia that handle Russian oil, the first time it would target ports in third countries, a proposal document showed on Monday. The proposal, reviewed by Reuters, would add Kulevi in Georgia and Karimun in Indonesia to the sanctions list, meaning European companies and individuals would be barred from carrying out transactions with the two ports.

Russia remains open for cooperation with the US but is not hopeful about economic ties despite Washington’s ongoing efforts to end the Ukraine war, Russia’s foreign minister said. Speaking to Russia-based media outlet TV BRICS, Sergei Lavrov cited what he called the US’s declared aim of “economic dominance”. “We also don’t see any bright future in the economic sphere,” he said in the interview published on Monday. Lavrov also cited Trump’s hostility to the Brics bloc, which includes Russia, China, India, Brazil and other major developing economies.

Russia’s Federal Security Service said on Monday that the men suspected of shooting one of the country’s most senior military intelligence officers had confessed that they were carrying out orders from the Security Service of Ukraine. Ukraine has denied any involvement in Friday’s attempted assassination of Lieut Gen Vladimir Alexeyev, deputy head of Russia’s GRU military intelligence service, in Moscow on Friday. Alexeyev has regained consciousness after surgery.

Russian forces are trying to press forward around the city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv’s military said on Monday, as Moscow pushes to conclude a months-long campaign to seize the strategic hub in the Donetsk region. Kyiv’s general staff said on Monday its forces still held the northern part of Pokrovsk and were also defending the smaller city of Myrnohrad nearby.