Zelensky, who has suffered setbacks over the last week due to a corruption scandal at home and Russian forces closing in on the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, wrote on X ahead of the talks that he expects the meeting to result in a "historic deal".
At the Villacoublay air base, Zelensky is to inspect Rafale fighter jets and its weaponry, the next-generation SAMP-T air defence system and several drone systems before holding talks with the French president.
A letter of intent on the air defence accord, the precise content of which has not been disclosed, is then to be signed, according to a French presidential source, who asked not to be named.
The aim of the accord is to "put French excellence in the arms industry at the service of Ukraine's defence" and to "enable it (Kyiv) to acquire the systems it needs to respond to Russian aggression".
The visit by Zelensky to France is his ninth since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
It comes ahead of what analysts predict will be a tough winter for Kyiv as Moscow presses on the battlefield.
Overnight, Russian strikes killed three people in a city in Ukraine's eastern Kharkiv region, its military administration chief said. Seven people were killed after Russia struck apartment blocks across the capital Kyiv on Friday.
Zelensky at the weekend announced an overhaul of state-owned energy companies after a corruption scandal, ordering two ministers to resign and sanctioning a former business partner who was named as its mastermind.
Zelensky in Paris to seek air defence help for Ukraine
Paris (AFP) Nov 17, 2025 -
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky visits Paris on Monday in a new bid to secure weaponry to defend his country against increasingly lethal Russian missile and drone attacks.
Zelensky's visit is part of a brief tour of his western allies that saw him seal an energy deal with Greece on Sunday and will include a visit to Spain on Tuesday.
The Ukrainian leader has said that "a major deal with France" will be announced soon, but it was not known if that would be finalised in his talks with President Emmanuel Macron.
The French presidency said Macron would "put French excellence in the armaments industry field at the service of the defence of Ukraine". Paris, he said, would propose ways to allow Ukraine "to acquire the systems that it needs to answer Russian aggression".
Macron's office notably highlighted air defences. Zelensky on Saturday renewed his appeals for more anti-missile systems, a day after deadly Russian strikes on Kyiv.
Zelensky and Macron will start the day at the Villacoublay air base near Paris for a presentation of France's Rafale fighter jet.
They will also look at drones and France's SAMP-T surface-to-air missile system it developed with Italy.
The Ukrainian president last month signed a letter of intent that could see his country buy up to 150 Swedish Gripen fighters.
Ukraine already has one of the current SAMP-Ts that can counter fighter jets as well as cruise missiles and tactical ballistic missiles. A new-generation, more powerful SAMP-T system should become available from 2027.
- Drones and missiles -
France has already promised more of its Aster missiles that can be fired from the SAMP-T or from aircraft to Ukraine.
"We are also working on deliveries of other advanced air-defence systems and strengthening our aviation -- a major deal with France is in preparation and will be finalised soon -- a historic agreement," Zelensky said in a video released Friday.
Zelensky and Macron will then go on to a forum at the Elysee palace on joint production of drones.
Ukraine has said it plans to use more than 4.5 million drones this year, for frontline attacks and to fight off Russian drones.
The two presidents will also visit the headquarters of a Ukraine multinational force that France and Britain are preparing in the event an international force is deployed in Ukraine after any ceasefire.
The headquarters at Mont Valerien, west of Paris, is where countries from the "coalition of the willing" organised by France and Britain have sent officers to prepare the force. France says that 34 countries and Ukraine have already offered to take part.
Zelensky's ninth visit to France since the Russian invasion in 2022 comes as his government battles a new corruption scandal, this time involving its energy firms.
France's Europe Minister Benjamin Haddad said in a television interview on Saturday that governments had to be "extraordinarily vigilant" about corruption as Ukraine presses its case to join the European Union.
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