Ukraine plans to buy up to 20 latest model Gripen jet fighter jets, and Sweden will donate 16 older Gripen jets, the two countries announced.
The first Gripen E fighter, for which Ukraine plans to allocate €2.5 billion from an EU loan, will be delivered as of 2030, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told reporters.
The 16 donated aircraft will be delivered in early 2027, Mr Kristersson said.
"This is a historic decision for Sweden, but it also strengthens Ukraine's air defence significantly," he added.
The two countries signed a letter of intent in October 2025 on Kyiv's purchase of 100 to 150 Gripen E aircraft.
Mr Zelensky said Ukraine hoped to buy all 150 planes.
As Mr Zelensky arrived in Sweden, he said that Ukraine is preparing a "major defence package" with Sweden and a "strong step" on Gripen fighter jets.
On Telegram, he said that he will meet Mr Kristersson and representatives of the Swedish defence industry.
The letter of intent was non-binding and did not provide specific dates, but Mr Kristersson said at the time that the first planes could be delivered to Ukraine "within three years" if everything went to plan.
Sweden had previously suspended plans to send Gripen jets to Ukraine after partner countries requested that priority be given to American F-16s.
It comes as Ukraine's parliament ratified a loan agreement with the European Union, paving the way for €90 billion in financing and allowing the government to channel record funds to defence and the war with Russia now in its fifth year.
The EU gave its final approval to the €90 billion loan for Ukraine last month after Hungary lifted its veto, ending months of delays and easing pressures on the Ukrainian state budget.
'No change' for US Embassy in Kyiv
The US Embassy in Kyiv denied reports about changes to its operations following warnings from Russia that diplomats and foreigners should leave the Ukrainian capital before it escalated attacks.
Some Ukrainian media cited remarks by European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas that the US embassy had left the capital.
Ms Kallas told reporters on the sidelines of an EU meeting in Cyprus that all the foreign embassies in Kyiv had shrugged off the threat of attacks by Moscow, except one.
"What we heard from Ukraine yesterday was that all the embassies stayed except one," said Ms Kallas.
"All the Europeans stayed. America left."
In a post on X, the US embassy in Kyiv said there had been no changes to its operations.
"The US Embassy is open. There are no changes to our operations and reports otherwise are false," it said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's communications adviser, Dmytro Lytvyn, told reporters that Ukraine had heard that some US diplomats had left Kyiv at the time of the latest massive Russian strike on Sunday.
He added that Ukraine was grateful to all the embassies that work in Kyiv and support Ukraine.
A representative of the US embassy in Kyiv declined to comment on Mr Lytvyn's remarks.
The acting US ambassador to Kyiv, Julie Davis, was in Lviv for an event at the weekend, according to the embassy's social media post.
"The State Department has no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans and regularly reviews the security posture of Embassy Kyiv," the embassy said in its post on X.
'Dangerous escalation' in war
It comes as the United Nations' human rights chief warned against a "dangerous escalation" in the conflict and urged a return to negotiations.
"I strongly urge restraint. Resume negotiations and end the suffering," Volker Turk said in a statement.
The UN rights office said 815 civilians had been killed and 4,174 injured in Ukraine in the first four months of 2026 - a 21% increase in civilian casualties over the same period last year.
"As if all these casualty figures weren't horrifying enough on their own, following these attacks, Russian officials have publicly threatened to increase attacks across Kyiv," Mr Turk said.
"International humanitarian law demands that parties to a conflict take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian harm," he said.
"These are not simply suggestions or recommendations, but binding obligations carrying legal responsibility for those involved."
His office also pointed to an attack by Ukrainian armed forces on an educational complex in the occupied city of Starobilsk on 21 May, in which Russian authorities say 21 people were killed and 44 injured.
"The UN Human Rights Office has conducted a thorough review of publicly-available information, which indicates that the educational facilities were operational at the time of the attack and that civilians - many of them students - were killed or injured," it said.
Eighteen of those killed were women, it said, adding that attacks by Ukrainian armed forces had also killed and injured civilians within Russia itself.
Mr Turk called on both Russian and Ukrainian authorities to conduct "prompt, independent, and effective investigations and hold those responsible accountable."
Russia's invasion, intended to force the swift capitulation of Ukraine, has become the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II, killing hundreds of thousands of people on both sides and displacing millions.
Russia and Ukraine have stepped up deadly strikes in recent weeks as US-led efforts to end the war, now in its fifth year, have ground to a halt with Washington's attention diverted to the Middle East.
