After months of leading the resistance from the presidential palace, with some rare incursion outside the capital and interventions via videoconference everywhere, Volodymyr Zelensky began to venture outside his country. He has already visited more countries since February than in all of 2021 and will seize the opportunity to put maximum pressure on countries that remain neutral and get maximum help from allies.
Between a surprise visit to the Arab League summit and a not-so-surprising trip to Japan, the Ukrainian leader criticized Arab countries “turning a blind eye” to the Russian invasion and, even before reaching the G7 summit, obtained: the certainty that the United States will allow the transfer of the coveted F-16 fighter jets. The visit of the head of Ukrainian diplomacy to Lisbon should be seen in this context.
A senior White House official indicated that Washington would support the delivery of aircraft to Ukraine, as well as plans to train pilots. The decision was welcomed by Zelensky. “A historic decision,” he said on Twitter, adding that he hoped to discuss “the practical implementation” of the plan in Hiroshima, where he is heading after a stop in Saudi Arabia.
The US is the country that has opened its wallet the most to Ukraine (more than $46 billion in military aid since the February 2022 invasion), but it isn’t always at the forefront of delivering new devices. So it was with Abrams tanks or Patriot air defense systems – and finally with fighter jets. In January, after an adviser to Ukraine’s defense minister publicly said his country would equip itself with the F-16 model manufactured in the United States, President Joe Biden responded with a laconic “No” to journalists’ questions. subject. A month later, the denial was accompanied by a brief explanation: “According to our armed forces, there is no basis for the delivery of the F-16.”
Regardless of considerations for escalating the conflict or transferring sensitive technology, Americans did not view aviation as a priority to be reserved for the post-war period. “Our attention is focused on Ukraine’s priorities for this battle and modern Western aircraft, although on the list, are eighth,” said Celeste Wallander, chief of the Pentagon’s office for international security affairs. a hearing in the House of Commons in April.
Minister Kuleba, who was in Lisbon to challenge Portugal to join the F-16 coalition, recalled a few days ago that US and NATO doctrine states that “air superiority is a condition for success of any offensive operation”.
For the US military, air defense is the most important thing for Ukraine – and on this point they agree with the commander of the Ukrainian armed forces. Taking stock of the slightly damaged Patriot system, Valerii Zaluzhnyi told US Chief of Staff Mark Milley that “the priority is on additional air defense systems to strengthen airspace protection.”
But Zelensky and his government believe planes will make a difference. In an article on Foreign policy, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba presented five arguments for his air force to get that particular model: strengthening air defenses, by working with defense systems on the ground; ground force support; securing maritime traffic in the Black Sea grain corridor; share the experience with the North Americans so that they can improve their technology; and as a future deterrent in case Russia wants to redraw its borders again. “According to United States and NATO military doctrine, air superiority is a prerequisite for the success of any offensive operation,” he recalled.
Kuleba in Lisbon
A day after the NATO Secretary General’s meeting with the Prime Minister, Lisbon was once again the scene of a war-focused meeting. The head of Ukrainian diplomacy and his Portuguese counterpart, João Gomes Cravinho, discussed military aid and Kuleba revealed that Kiev is interested in Portuguese F-16s and pilot training.
“I invited Portugal to join the fighter coalition and start training Ukrainian pilots,” he said at the press conference. Gomes Cravinho made no consideration. Portugal purchased 40 F-16s in 1990 and kept 28. Denmark had already made itself available for pilot training, just as Belgium had done. United Kingdom and France too, despite not having that aircraft in their ranks.
These and other issues will be personally discussed by Zelensky in Hiroshima, where he will also press leaders of host countries such as India or Brazil to take a clear stance on the war, while the G7 passed new sanctions to rob Russia of technologies that aid it in the war effort against Ukraine.
Earlier in Jeddah, the Ukrainian received support for territorial integrity from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and also held meetings with leaders from Iraq, Oman, the Emirates and Kuwait. But Syrian Bashar al-Assad, re-admitted to the Arab League as one of Vladimir Putin’s key allies, did not hear Zelensky’s speech, in which he criticized the indifference of several Arab leaders to Russian actions.
Source: DN
