A coalition of European nations has agreed to share research and industrial experience to build an anti-ballistic missile defence, moving away from a reliance on the US as Ukraine struggles against Russia’s onslaught.“We believe that the protection of Europe requires a global solution of integrated missile defence architecture to deter and defeat future missile threats,” the office of French president Emmanuel Macron said in a statement. Macron hosted a meeting of Ukraine’s allies in Paris on Monday. “It will complement existing ballistic missile defence systems, including sovereign European solutions already acquired, or to be acquired by participating countries.”The coalition – comprising Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine and the UK – was dubbed “purely defensive” in the statement, and open to other nations.Ukraine has urged partners to join the construction of a new anti-ballistic missile system to compete with or bolster the US Patriot batteries and be effective against Russian missiles – hard or impossible to intercept by already existing European air defence solutions.Kyiv appeared to be almost defenceless against Russian ballistic missiles in a war that is now in its fifth year. The country’s defence ministry says Ukraine’s forces cannot shoot down more than 40 per cent of this type of weaponry because it is running out of Patriot missiles. June was the bloodiest since the start of the full-scale war, with 295 Ukrainian civilians killed, according to data revealed at a recent UN Security Council meeting.US president Donald Trump said last week he would allow Ukraine to manufacture Patriot missile interceptors, although Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the so-called Freya system, already being developed in Ukraine, can become a “European model” under Kyiv’s leadership.With Freya fully operational, Ukraine could close its skies and then share this idea with all its partners, Zelenskiy said last week. “I think this is an idea that can help us win,” he said, adding that ballistics is the only option that Russian president Vladimir Putin has on the table. [ Zelenskiy dismisses Ukraine’s prime minister in cabinet shake-upOpens in new window ]Meanwhile, Ukrainian prime minister ‌Yulia Svyrydenko submitted ​her resignation to parliament on Monday, the chamber’s ​speaker said. In a shock announcement, Zelenskiy said on Sunday he would replace Svyrydenko. She has served one year in office. Zelenskiy said an overhaul was needed to deliver a new political strategy. “Parliament will ‌consider ‌this ​matter in ⁠the ​near future ​in accordance ‌with the established ​procedure,” Ruslan ⁠Stefanchuk wrote ⁠on ​social media platform X.The parliamentary procedure to ‌set up ⁠a new government ‌could start as soon ​as Tuesday.– Bloomberg/Reuters