According to him, it is not important what kind of planes these will be.
Ukraine is working on acquiring the first squadron of foreign combat aircraft.
“I have no doubt that we will open the option of supplying combat aircraft. And here the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defense, the Office of the President, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi personally – the whole team is working to open this last closed door. It does not matter whether it will be the American ” F-16, Swedish Gripen, French Mirage or Rafale, or Eurofighter. It is fundamental to open a position, remove the taboo and receive the first squadron of aircraft,” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba during the telethon.
The Minister noted that, as of today, in terms of market size and service availability, the basic model for Ukraine is the American F-16. At the same time, it is not necessary that this model will be the first foreign combat aircraft that Ukraine will receive. It is important to unlock the provision of foreign combat aircraft as such.
The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine added that the only barriers of the partners regarding the provision of combat aircraft to Ukraine are psychological. He reminded that the same obstacles once stood in the way of obtaining HIMARS MLRS, Patriot SAMs and Western tanks, but President Zelenskyi’s diplomatic team still managed to overcome the barriers and unblock the supply of these types of weapons.
Weapons for Ukraine
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, Western partners have continuously supplied arms to Ukraine.
On January 25, 2022, the German government officially approved the transfer of 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and allowed other countries to re-export German-made tanks to Ukraine.
On the same day, the President of the United States of America, Joe Biden, announced that the United States would provide Ukraine with 31 Abrams tanks.
On February 5, Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov expressed his belief that Ukraine will receive aircraft from partners, including F-16 and Gripen fighters.
