Ukraine to get two or three types of Western fighter jets, one as main one, Reznikov says
Reznikov at the 9th Ramstein meeting shows a handkerchief with the image of a fighter jet (Photo:REUTERS / Johanna Geron)
Ukraine will be given several types of Western fighter jets by its military allies, and one will become the main Ukrainian forces aircraft, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said in an interview with German news magazine Bild on March 2.
"I’m sure that we will have two or three types of fighter jets, with one of them to become the main one (for our military),” Reznikov said.
“It depends on which of them suits Ukraine the best – for our airfields, for our engineers, for our maintenance.”
When reminded of Germany Chancellor Olaf Scholz's refusal to supply attack aircraft to Ukraine, Reznikov said: "I can remember how Germany refused to supply tanks to Ukraine. Now, my country has Leopards that I have personally tested. They came from Germany."
The minister added that he believes a coalition will be formed to provide Ukraine with fighter jets, similar to the tank one, through which Kyiv eventually received German Leopards as its main battle tanks, and is also awaiting the delivery of British Challengers, American Abrams, and French AMX.
Earlier, Reznikov said that a positive decision on the issue of fighter jets supply to Ukraine would come in one or two months.
Ukraine has repeatedly requested the United States and others of its allies for Western aircraft.
However, Ukraine’s military allies haven't yet agreed on the matter, and have delayed making a decision. In particular, the U.S. President Joe Biden said in an interview to ABC news on the one-year anniversary of the Russian full-scale invasion: "I am ruling (the delivery of F-16 fighter jets) out for now," as he believes Ukraine currently doesn't need the aircraft.
Scholz also claimed that the question of warplanes for Ukraine "currently makes no sense."
UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace also said there was no change of Ukraine being given British Typhoon fighter jets in near future, as he believes that it makes more sense if some European countries supply Ukraine with Soviet-era aircraft that would later be replaced with British warplanes.
Slovakia, meanwhile, has announced that it could transfer its MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine, while Poland has said it is ready to act within a broader fighter jet coalition.
The discussion about western aircraft supplies to Ukraine continues. In the meantime, there is a much greater chance that Ukrainian pilots could be trained to pilot modern aircraft is more close.
The U.K. has become the first country to announce it would conduct such training. Poland has also declared its readiness to provide Ukrainian pilots with training on F-16s.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that besides the UK and Poland, another three counties are also ready to train Ukrainian pilots.
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