The Chancellor Of Germany Has Said He Would Not Deploy Fighter Planes To Ukraine
Just days after promising to provide tanks, the German Chancellor has ruled out deploying fighter planes to Ukraine.
Olaf Scholz cautioned against a bidding war for guns in an interview with a German publication.
To improve its capabilities, Ukraine has requested its allies to form a “fighter jet coalition.”
The US said that it will “very seriously” consider the notion of providing planes with Kyiv on Thursday.
Mr. Scholz said in an interview with Tagesspiegel that the delivery of Leopard 2 tanks produced in Germany was his primary concern.
“It simply seems silly,” he remarked, “that we’ve just decided [on deploying tanks] and the next argument is shooting up in Germany.”
After weeks of pressure from friends, Germany agreed on Wednesday to provide Ukraine with 14 of its Leopard 2 tanks.
Following Germany’s pledge to supply the tanks, the US said that it would give Ukraine its M1 Abrams combat vehicles.
Andrii Melnyk, the deputy foreign minister of Ukraine, has asked for the formation of a “fighter jet coalition” that would provide it with US F-16 and F-35 fighter planes, Eurofighters, Tornados, French Rafales, and Swedish Gripen jets, in addition to Eurofighters and Tornados.
Mykhailo Podolyak, a presidential advisor for Ukraine, told Ukraine’s Freedom Television Network that missiles were also required “to significantly limit the Russian army’s main armament.”
And Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, reaffirmed it in a daily video address, saying that his nation needs the 185-mile-range ATACMS missile produced in the US (297km).
He said that the missiles will assist Ukraine in foreseeing Russian assaults on cities and populations.
Up until now, Washington has declined to provide that weapon.
Mr. Scholz reaffirmed that NATO was not at war with Russia in the interview with Tagesspiegel, adding, “We will not accept such an escalation.”
He said that he often interacts with Vladimir Putin, the two of them having spoken most recently in December 2022.
He said that although he had always been clear that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was wholly wrong and that only the departure of its forces would bring about a resolution, “We need to speak to one other.”
