Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has lauded the promises of fresh military aid made by the European leaders he has met with in recent days.
Speaking to journalists after his most recent meeting with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday, he said: “I had very good meetings with Giorgia [Meloni], Olaf [Scholz], and Emmanuel [Macron], and today, in the United Kingdom [with Rishi Sunak]. Really important, powerful defense packages. That’s what it is, that’s what the agreements are.”
The publicized agreements include a $3 billion military aid package from Germany – its largest pledge since the war began – and the commitment to send more armored vehicles and light tanks from France.
But Zelensky is still campaigning for Ukraine’s allies to come together in a so-called “coalition” to send it modern fighter jets, which Zelensky admitted in Berlin on Sunday was, “not an easy question.”
Ukraine specifically wants US-made F-16 fighter jets, Andriy Yermak, the Head of the Office of the Ukrainian President, said in a tweet on Sunday: “We need F-16s, and we are doing everything to ensure that we get them as soon as possible.”
In a pre-taped video address played at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Monday morning, Zelensky said F-16s would help Ukraine in “defending freedom” and said it was “not a problem to be discussed for months.” Zelensky’s speech was played to the conference before his meeting with Sunak later Monday morning. He said F-16s were one of three things that Ukraine needed: weapons (including the F-16s), NATO membership and increased international pressure on Russia.
Sunak’s spokesperson said on Monday that Britain has no plans to send fighter jets to Kyiv because the Ukrainian military’s preference was for the F-16s, which it does not have. “The Ukrainians made the decision to train their pilots on F-16s and you will know the RAF don’t use those,” the spokesperson said.
Remember: In March, CNN reported that the US was working with Ukrainian pilots in the United States to determine how long it would take to train them to fly F-16 fighter jets. A US military official said, “There are no updates to provide regarding F-16s to Ukraine.”
CNN
