Ukraine hosted key European allies Monday to press for more air defense support and increased pressure on Moscow, as Russian attacks kill civilians at the highest rate since the war’s opening months.
A meeting of the Coalition of the Willing will be jointly chaired by leaders of France and Germany, who will participate remotely, and U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who has arrived in Kyiv for his first trip abroad since taking office.
The leaders of Luxembourg, Moldova, Estonia and EU Council President Antonio Costa are also in Kyiv for the talks hosted on Ukraine's Independence Day and which come amid the war's latest escalation.
"Right now, things are really very difficult for all of us. But there is a force holding us firmly by the hand," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his address, adding: "It is the strength of our mutual circle."
He called on allies to give Ukraine "everything it needs to stop this war," after Russia has recently pounded Kyiv with ballistic missiles, ripping open apartment blocks and killing dozens in the capital.
The escalating Russian strikes have pushed civilian deaths to their highest levels since the first months of Moscow's 2022 invasion.
After almost every attack – which sees thousands hunker in shelters across Kyiv – Zelenskyy has issued public pleas for more air-defense support.
The European Union said Monday that it had released another 6.1 billion euros ($7.1 billion) in military aid for Ukraine to boost its air defenses.
The finance is part of a 90 billion-euro loan, including 60 billion euros in military aid, that the EU has said will go to Ukraine.
The meeting also comes amid political tensions for Zelenskyy, who rejected this weekend the call for wartime elections made by his former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.
Ahead of the talks, Ukraine has forged ahead with its campaign against Russia's logistics sites, hitting multiple warehouses belonging to e-commerce giant Ozon.
Ozon reported fires early Monday at its warehouses in Krasnodar and Makhachkala, both in southern Russia, adding that sites in Adygeysk and Nevinnomyssk were evacuated due to threats of drone attack.
Russian authorities also said debris from a Ukrainian drone attack killed two children and wounded nine others.
UK, French support
Russian leader Vladimir Putin said Saturday Kyiv had "opened Pandora's box" by targeting Russia's economy and promised further escalation, including against Ukrainian agriculture.
Russia is demanding hardline territorial and political concessions that Kyiv has rejected as a capitulation that would only enable another Russian attack.
"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."
Burnham is set to announce that the British government is authorizing defense firm MBDA to release classified information needed to help Ukraine and France set up local production of the long-range SCALP missile.
Earlier Saturday, French President Emmanuel Macron pledged Paris would deliver new interceptor missiles.
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 homegrown weapons cannot shoot them down, meaning Ukraine is reliant on advanced systems – chiefly, U.S. Patriot interceptors – to protect its skies.
But due to shortfalls globally since the U.S. launched its war on Iran, Ukraine has been left exposed.
Ukraine's missiles shortfall
Ahead of the meeting, Zelenskyy 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," Zelenskyy 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 during its war on Iran and has resisted releasing large numbers to Ukraine.
Zelenskyy 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 marshaling support to Kyiv as uncertainty persists over U.S. commitments under Donald Trump.