Skip to content
Edit post

Wallace: UK will not send fighter jets to Ukraine any time soon

by The Kyiv Independent news desk February 15, 2023 1:40 PM 2 min read
This audio is created with AI assistance

The U.K. will focus on ensuring Kyiv can defend itself in the long run rather than sending fighter jets to Ukraine, U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told BBC on Feb. 15, citing practical issues.

Wallace said that if the British government were to give fighter jets, it would also have to provide about 200 Royal Air Force Personnel.

Wallace also said that the international community has provided Ukraine with thousands of surface-to-air missiles, drones, and longer-range missiles, which have the “same effects.”

The statement comes after Germany said that fighter jets were not the focus for now, and that the priority was to ensure the safety of the airspace over Ukraine, which requires an operational air defense system with enough ammunition.

Following the latest Ramstein meeting on Feb. 14, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told reporters in Brussels that he has “nothing to report” regarding the supply of fighter jets to Ukraine.

A decision to provide Ukraine with Western fighter jets is “not the most urgent issue now,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Feb. 14.

Earlier, several Western officials also told the Financial Times that Ukraine’s needs for ammunition and air defense outweighed longer-term requests, such as fighter jets, as Russia has started its new offensive.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Feb. 9 that “several” European leaders expressed readiness to provide Ukraine with fighter jets and other necessary weapons without further details.

Meanwhile, only Poland has publicly shown readiness to send fighter jets to Ukraine – but it said the delivery needs NATO approval.

The West has been reluctant to transfer aircraft to Ukraine after green-lighting supplies of modern tanks amid fears of escalating tensions with Russia.

Editorial: Arming Ukraine won’t escalate war. Reluctance to do so will

News Feed

6:15 AM  (Updated: )

Russian drone strike in Mykolaiv kills 5, injures 1.

Four people were killed and one 45-year-old woman was hospitalized following the attack, Governor Vitalii Kim said. Search and rescue operations have reportedly been completed.
2:20 PM

Ukraine launches largest drone attack on Moscow.

Russian air defense shot down 70 Ukrainian drones, including 34 in Moscow Oblast, in Ukraine’s largest drone attack on the Russian capital, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on Nov. 10.
4:34 AM

EU preparing 15th sanctions package against Russia, targeting foreign-made parts.

"We have to strengthen anti-sanctions circumvention measures because Russia cannot produce (weaponry) without imported parts, chips and other components," the EU's chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, said at a news conference in Kyiv. "We should use sanctions to isolate Russia's industrial capabilities from imports from other countries."
MORE NEWS

Editors' Picks

Enter your email to subscribe
Please, enter correct email address
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required

Subscribe

* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Explaining Ukraine with Kate Tsurkan
* indicates required
Successfuly subscribed
Thank you for signing up for this newsletter. We’ve sent you a confirmation email.