Kyiv Wants 300 Interceptors for Winter, EU Leaders Arrive

Kyiv marked the 35th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence on Monday, August 24, hosting nearly ten European leaders for the third meeting of the Coalition of the Willing in the Ukrainian capital, while Brussels was still deciding on 30 billion euros in aid whose release depends on a vote in the European Parliament. For Serbia, which has spent years waiting for movement in its own European Union membership talks, the summit is a reminder of just how much of Brussels’ political and financial attention is focused on Kyiv: NATO Deputy Secretary General Radmila Sekerinska, a name well known in the Balkans, joined the meeting remotely, a sign that the security architecture being built around Ukraine involves active participation from representatives of the region.

Leaders Gather in Kyiv for Third Coalition of the Willing Summit

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham led a delegation of nearly ten European leaders who traveled to Kyiv, on his first visit to Ukraine since taking office on July 20. He was joined in the Ukrainian capital by European Council President Antonio Costa, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz co-chaired the meeting by video link, while Sekerinska joined remotely, as did most of the other participants. The meeting began at 1 p.m. Kyiv time in a hybrid format that, according to the Kyiv Independent, drew more than 30 countries, while Brussels Signal put the group’s membership at around 35.

This was the third meeting of the Coalition of the Willing to be held in Kyiv since France and Britain founded the group in March 2025, with the goal of preparing security guarantees for Ukraine ahead of any eventual ceasefire. The previous meeting took place on July 13 in France, where Poland announced it would host Coalition of the Willing military exercises in the fall, in preparation for deploying so-called reassurance forces once a ceasefire is reached.

SCALP Missile Deal and the Kremlin’s Response

Burnham approved sharing classified data on British components used in the long range SCALP missile, the French version of Britain’s Storm Shadow, opening the way for France and Ukraine to start producing the weapon on Ukrainian soil. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to the decision by accusing Britain of taking part in the war on Kyiv’s side.

Why Does Ukraine Need More Patriot Interceptors?

Zelensky used the occasion to release previously classified figures on Patriot interceptor deliveries. Ukraine received 675 American interceptors in 2023, 364 in 2025, and only 264 are projected for 2026, against a stated need for at least 300 interceptors ahead of the coming winter, when Russia typically intensifies strikes on the power grid. The summit also addressed the 30 billion euros in blocked European Union funds, whose release depends on legislation clearing the European Parliament, along with coordinated measures against Russia’s shadow fleet, the tankers Moscow uses to get around sanctions on oil exports. France promised new interceptors on August 22, and the United States awarded Raytheon a 22.9 billion dollar contract on August 17 to produce cruise missiles.

Zelensky: “Russia Did Not Factor In Its People”

Separately from the Coalition of the Willing summit, Zelensky marked the day with two public addresses in central Kyiv. Speaking at St. Sophia Square, where a street parade of domestically made weapons was held, the Ukrainian president said the presence of European leaders showed how much the continent fears Russia’s broader ambitions.

“No nation in a war like this could rely on its own weapons alone,” Zelensky said.

Later, wearing an embroidered shirt, he addressed the nation from the square outside St. Michael’s Monastery, where burned out Russian tanks were on display, saying Russia had misjudged Ukraine: “Russia calculated Ukraine’s resources, reserves and military equipment, but it did not factor in the most important thing, its people.” In a separate video address for the holiday, he added that “Ukraine absolutely wants peace, but it is not prepared to simply surrender,” and closed his address to the nation with the words: “Protect your state. Protect your independent Ukraine!”

In his address he also mentioned the liberation of the Kharkiv and Kherson regions, as well as, in his words, the entire Dnipropetrovsk region. He noted that Ukrainian air defense shoots down more than 90 percent of Russian Shahed drones, while the military is learning to intercept the newer jet propelled drones Russia has since switched to. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said of the European leaders’ arrival in Kyiv that “in times like these, nations learn how important it is to have allies at their side.”

The War Continues Even on Independence Day

Fighting did not stop for the holiday, however. In Chernihiv, a Russian drone strike wounded 15 people that same day, including two children, while Ukrainian forces hit the Kamensky plant in Russia’s Rostov region, a facility that produces rocket fuel. Russia claims a Ukrainian drone strike on the southern Russian city of Krasnodar killed three teenagers and wounded six children. Russian air defenses said they shot down 351 Ukrainian drones over eight Russian regions.

Srpske novine previously reported on Russian threats of harsher retaliation after a drone struck a train near Odesa. The current exchange of strikes fits a pattern that has held for months, without major changes along the front line itself.

For Belgrade, it also matters that the Coalition of the Willing’s agenda, including the contested 30 billion euros from the EU budget, is increasingly intertwined with the broader question of EU enlargement to the Western Balkans, since every new commitment to Kyiv weighs on the same budget that funds support for candidate countries like Serbia. No date has yet been set for the European Parliament vote on those funds, and Kyiv warns it needs interceptors to defend against Russian missiles before winter brings a new wave of attacks on the power grid.