![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Last March, the White House said allies providing Soviet-era MiG-29 aircraft, as requested by Kyiv, would not make a huge difference. President Joe Biden said Monday he wouldn't provide them. Washington, Kyiv's biggest military backer in real terms, had previously opposed sending fighter jets. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video What does the United States say? From Kyiv's perspective, fighter jets are the missing component of a full arsenal, according to Lete.Īmbassador: Ukraine has not yet asked Germany for jets "Unfortunately for Ukraine, many of the fighter jets that they had were destroyed in the very beginning of the military campaign in February 2022," he said, adding that the remaining ones are old, a mix from Soviet times. Ukraine's deputy foreign minister, Andriy Melnyk, called recently for "a powerful fighter jet coalition for Ukraine," comprising US-made F-16s and F-35s, Eurofighter, Tornado, Rafale and Gripen warplanes.į-16s are of particular interest, because many European countries are looking to replace these with newer F-35s, German Marshall Fund senior fellow Bruno Lete told DW. Ukraine's ambassador to Germany, Oleksii Makeiev, told DW in an interview on Monday that his country hadn't requested Berlin to provide any fighter jets - yet.Įxactly which planes Kyiv would want and how many is not yet clear. These would be a "game changer," Reznikov said, adding that he expected intense discussions in the coming weeks. After the change of heart on tanks last week, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told Canadian broadcaster CBC he was optimistic that allies could supply jets. Kyiv has been asking for fighter jets since soon after Russia launched its full-scale invasion last February. Could that be about to change? What does Ukraine want and why? Such pleas have fallen upon deaf ears up to now. Ukraine now seems emboldened to renew its calls for fighter jets. Kyiv scored a major coup last week in convincing Western allies - particularly a reluctant Germany - to send modern battle tanks to help fight off Russia. ![]()
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