© Getty Images / Jakub Porzycki / NurPhoto
France won’t rule out jets for Ukraine Western countries are increasingly discussing the prospect of sending warplanes to Kiev
French President Emmanuel Macron has said that the idea of sending fighter jets to Ukraine had not been “excluded,” as Kiev ramps up its campaign to pressure the West into donating combat aircraft to its military.
Asked about the possibility of transferring jets to Kiev’s military, Macron told reporters that “nothing is excluded in principle,” according to France’s AFP news agency. The president added that Kiev would be forbidden from using French jets to attack Russian soil.
Macron was speaking after a meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who told reporters that his government saw “no taboo” around sending US-made F-16 fighters to Ukraine, but admitted it would be a “big step.”
For nearly a year, the idea of sending Ukraine any jets – let alone Western-designed ones – was considered too escalatory by the NATO powers. In a matter of days, however, the idea has now gone from a “high risk” hypothetical – in the words of the Pentagon last March – to a proposal under serious consideration.
According to various media reports, the UK has dismissed the idea of delivering its Typhoon warplanes as “too escalatory,” while the US is discussing the idea of handing over its planes “very carefully” with the rest of the NATO bloc, amid pressure from the military industrial complex and its partners in the Pentagon. Poland is willing to transfer its F-16s if other NATO members follow suit, while Germany has – for now – declared a Ukrainian request that it hand over its Tornado fighters “out of the question.”
The debate over sending jets to Ukraine appears to be following the same trajectory as the months-long discussion over tanks. By the time France, Germany, the UK and US all agreed to donate tanks this month, the decision had been telegraphed through increasingly concrete government-sourced reports in Western media.
Ukrainian officials believed throughout that their Western backers would eventually cave and announce tank deliveries. The country’s foreign minister ridiculed Germany’s public recalcitrance, insisting that Berlin would “do it anyway,” long before the formal announcement was made.
Kiev appears equally hopeful about receiving aircraft from the West. Posting on Facebook last week, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security Council, Aleksey Danilov, shared a video of American F-16s along with the caption “soon in the sky of Ukraine.”
Comment: The Telegraph reports:
Russia has attacked “absurd” comments from Emmanuel Macron after he refused to rule out delivering fighter jets to Ukraine, while also warning against the risk of escalation.
Maria Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman, said: “Forgive me, but this is absurd.
“Is the president of France really certain that if arms, heavy weapons and aircraft are supplied to the Kyiv regime to conduct combat operations, this will not lead to an escalation of the situation?”
Referring to Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, Ms Zakharova added: “Such statements only increase the already irrepressible appetite of the Zelensky regime.”
[…]
Ukraine is expecting to receive up to 140 modern tanks from its Western allies, and Mr Zelensky is now urging the West to send fighter jets and long-range missiles.
On Monday, Joe Biden appeared to draw the line on supplying American fighter jets to Kyiv.
“No,” the US president said when asked by reporters at the White House if he was in favour. However, the next day, he said he would talk to Mr Zelensky about his latest requests for advanced weaponry.
In the early months of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Kyiv’s partners were reluctant to provide too much military aid, eager to avoid a more direct confrontation between the West and Russia.
However, as the war grinds on, they have repeatedly given in to Ukraine’s appeals for more substantial weapons.
Last December, Washington finally agreed to send its high-performing Patriot air defence missiles. Last month, it announced it would also be sending Abrams battle tanks.
After pressure from allies, Germany approved sending Leopard tanks to Kyiv and said that it would agree to requests from other European countries who wanted to send their own German-made Leopards.
And now we have the UK’s former defense minister saying that NATO ‘may’ need to (officially) send ground troops to Ukraine.
