France does not rule out supplying Kyiv with fighter jets
The flag of France (Photo:jackmac34 / pixabay)
Paris does not rule out arming Ukraine with modern warplanes, provided the move would not escalate the war or harm EU’s security, and would be beneficial to Ukraine’s Armed Forces, French MP and ally of President Emmanuel Macron, Thomas Gassilloud, told The Guardian on Jan. 26.
According to Gassilloud, the discussion of providing Kyiv with fighter jets is developing rapidly.
“We must study requests on a case by case basis and leave all the doors open,” said Gassilloud, who chairs France’s parliamentary defense committee.
“We will see in the coming weeks what happens next as things are moving fast.”
He added that France is unlikely to transfer Leclerc main battle tanks to Kyiv, as that would clash with already announced tank deliveries from the United States and Germany.
“They (Leclerc tanks) are not the best asset we can provide to Ukraine, notably because it will costly and complicated for the Ukrainians to deal with different types of tanks,” Gassilloud said.
“We are thinking for instance about surface-to-air capacities.”
The MP concluded that modern warplanes require extensive personnel training – for every pilot, up to 20 ground crew are required to properly utilize the jets.
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google News
