How long are yesterday’s refusals worth? Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, deliveries of certain weapons (long-range missiles, armored vehicles, or main battle tanks) were initially subject to an order of inadmissibility by the United States or Germany before finally being granted.
Will this rule apply to the fighter jets, F-16, Mirage 2000 or Mig-29 that Ukraine is asking its allies to coordinate the ground counteroffensive that will be launched in the spring with tanks? Kyiv has the ambition to form two squadrons of 12 combat aircraft, making a total of 24 aircraft.
Joe Biden: “No!”
Olaf Scholz, who for a long time refused to hand over the Leopard 2 tanks, also forbidding the countries that had them from giving them to the Ukrainians, ended up accepting. As for combat aircraft, the German chancellor is again intractable.
“The question of fighter jets doesn’t even come up. I can only advise against getting into a constant bidding war when it comes to weapons systems,” the German chancellor said.
The same goes for Joe Biden, who was also adamant about sending F-16s to Ukraine. “No,” the US president responded to a reporter who asked him the question during a point Monday at the White House. This device, the best-selling in the world, is used by a dozen European countries.
For his part, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunnak does not want to provide Ukraine with planes, but is not opposed to the allies sending them. This position made Boris Johnson react, hitting his fist, throwing his successor: “Give it [aux Ukrainiens] what you need!”
“no taboo”
In France, but also in Poland and the Netherlands, the positions are more nuanced. Asked about this possibility during a trip to the Netherlands last Monday, Emmanuel Macron cautiously replied: “Nothing is prohibited in principle.” He vetoed the Rafales, but not the Mirage 2000s, which were gradually withdrawn from French units to be replaced by Rafales.
Was the issue discussed during the visit to Paris of Oleksii Reznikov, Minister of Defense of Ukraine? Nothing has been leaked on this subject, but it is hard to imagine that it was not discussed with Emmanuel Macron or with Sébastien Lecornu, Minister of the Armed Forces.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte is ready to accede to Kyiv’s request. “There is no taboo, but it would be a big step” if fighter jets were delivered to Kyiv, the head of the Dutch government said.
Poland and Slovakia, which have F-16s and Mig 29s, are in the same position. To do this, they must obtain the green light from NATO and a transfer authorization from Washington. The question is not resolved since the United States says that it is opposed to ceding them, but without specifying if they intended to prohibit their clients from ceding theirs. The condition would be based on the certainty that these devices are not used for attacks on Russian territory.
F-16 training?
In addition to these agreements, the training of pilots and mechanics is a prerequisite for the delivery of Western American or French aircraft. The day after the meeting organized at the US Ramstein base in Germany where Ukraine’s allies met on January 20, Yuri Ignat, spokesman for the Ukrainian air force, made an unexpected revelation about the F-16.
“Our pilots flew to the United States and funds were allocated for their training. The aviation issue never left the agenda. The type of aircraft that could be provided to us and the training conditions have already been determined,” reveals the official.
The Pentagon has not commented on this information, neither to confirm nor to deny it. But last November, Admiral James Stavridis, the former commander-in-chief of allied NATO forces, said Bloomberg that the member countries of the Atlantic alliance “discuss an idea abandoned at the beginning of the war: supplying Soviet-era MiG-29 fighters or even American F-16s.”
As for the Mirage 2000, the Ukrainian government has already discussed the issue of training with Paris, which does not comment. According to Xavier Tytelman, an aeronautics and weapons expert, France regularly trains Ukrainian soldiers even on systems that have not yet been supplied.
The Ministry of the Armed Forces announced yesterday, in addition to the shipment of 12 new Caesar cannons, “specialized training in France for the summer” for 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers without specifying what type of equipment.
Source: BFM TV
