Ukraine’s defense minister is sure that the West will send planes – #Ukraines #defense #minister #West #send #planes
BRUSSELS, February 15 (Reuters) – of Ukraine Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on Wednesday that he was “absolutely” confident that Western countries would supply fighter jets to Kiev to help fight the Russian invasion.
In an interview with Reuters in Brussels Reznikov noted that of Ukraine has already secured a number of Western weapons systems after its allies initially said they would not. “The impossible became possible,” he said.
According to him, more to protect Ukraine from Russian attacks weather fighter jets are needed as part of the defense system.
“We need an aircraft as a platform to defend our skies. we Ukraine we must rule the sky. This will primarily protect our civilian population and, of course, our armed forces.”
In recent weeks USA President Joe Biden Washington has said Washington will not provide F-16s to Ukraine, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has ruled out sending fighter jets.
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Other countries, such as Poland, have said they are open to the idea, but will only act with broad Western support. Britain said that it will provide training for Ukrainian fighter pilots, but has not yet announced whether it will supply the planes.
Some Western officials also noted that providing the fighter jets and training Ukrainian pilots to operate them would likely take months. Others have expressed concern that the supply of Western jets could be a dangerous escalation in the war.
in Brussels NATOSpeaking a day after a meeting with defense ministers of member countries and a coalition of more than 50 countries supporting Kyiv Reznikov that fighter jets are “on the table” and that the allies Ukraine said that he evaluated which model would be better for
he USA“We have to choose the best solution,” he said, citing the US F-16 aircraft and Sweden’s Gripen aircraft as the main options.
Reznikov said that in his personal opinion, the F-16s would be the best because they are used by a wide variety of countries. “My dream: to have the F-16. But Gripen is also very good,” he said.
Weather Reznikov, who supplies a range of Western weapons including air defense systems, missiles, artillery and tanks, joked with Western ministers that fighter jets were last on Santa’s wish list.
When asked if he is sure that he will buy jet planes in the end, Reznikov answered: “Of course, I am sure.”
Reznikov said that Kyiv despite having already received many advanced systems, weather defense against attack of Ukraine military remains the main priority in terms of aid. According to him, Russia if it launches a major attack, it will use more of its air power.
“If they start a real offensive campaign, they will certainly try to stop our defense forces using aircraft from their side. That means it’s a real threat, so more sophisticated, more modern aircraft are needed – to stop them, to defeat them, to intercept them.”
Reporting by Andrew Gray and Johnny Cotton; Written by Andrew Gray; Edited by Mark Heinrich
Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
2023-02-15 17:25:38
Source – reuters
Translation“24 HOURS”