Ukraine allies pledge support despite Russian threats

Ukraine's allies pledged on Monday to keep supporting Kyiv despite Russian threats, with air defence supplies the main priority at a Coalition of the Willing meeting in Kyiv on Ukraine's Independence Day.

The meeting brought together 30 leaders and was jointly chaired by the leaders of France and Germany, who took part remotely, and British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who was in Kyiv on his first trip abroad since taking office.

“Despite Russia's outrageous threats to my country, we will continue our support for Ukraine's defence,” Burnham said.

The European Union said it had released another 6.1 billion euros, or $7.1 billion, in military aid for Ukraine to boost its air defences. The money is part of a 90 billion-euro loan, including 60 billion euros in military aid, that the EU has said will go to Ukraine.

Burnham said Britain was authorising defence firm MBDA to release classified information needed to help Ukraine and France set up local production of the long-range Storm Shadow/SCALP missile. The Kremlin accused London of preventing peace in Ukraine and threatened to target and “destroy” facilities producing the missile in Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron warned that Russia would try to escalate against European countries to deter them from assisting Ukraine, adding that NATO countries would be targeted and provocations would multiply.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the leaders he wanted to raise production of drones and missiles to carry out more attacks on Russia, matching Moscow's strikes on Ukraine. “We need more money -- much more,” he said.

Zelensky said deliveries of Patriot interceptors had fallen from 675 in 2023 to 364 in 2025, with 264 currently projected for 2026. He said Ukraine was seeking at least 300 for the coming winter.

Ukraine has reported a shortage of Patriot interceptors since the United States and Israel went to war with Iran in February, diverting supplies.

Russia has recently struck Kyiv with ballistic missiles, killing dozens in the capital. Ukraine's emergency services said a Russian drone attack on Chernigiv, north of Kyiv, wounded 15 people. Local authorities said shelling in Izyum, in the east, killed one person and wounded nine.

Ukraine has also continued strikes on Russian logistics sites. Ozon reported fires early Monday at two warehouses in southern Russia and said two other sites were evacuated because of drone attack threats. Russian authorities said debris from a Ukrainian drone attack killed three children and wounded eight others.