Some in Ukraine criticized the 10-year timeline for the warplanes and other defense equipment, but France called it a long-term commitment to the country.
François Bayrou, top left, then the prime minister of France, with a Rafale fighter aircraft in June. France said on Monday that it would sell up to 100 such jets to Ukraine.
Oleksandra Kovalenko with her husband and children in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, this month. She said she was afraid to picture a winter without gas for their stove and radiators.
The revelations are a remarkable reversal for the Ukrainian president, who once presented himself as a leader who would clean up the country’s politics.