Zelensky's fighter jets on the table, but not now
4 Min Read
The French President says the priority now is for immediate delivery of firepower as Russia's alleged spring offensive looms.
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Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) and UK's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak travel by military helicopter to Lulworth Camp in Dorset during the former's visit to the UK on Wednesday, February 9. (Office of the President of Ukraine)
Finland does not rule out providing Kiev with combat jets to send a clear message of support to Ukraine.
"I don’t want to rule out anything in this stage. I think it’s very important that we will send a clear message and signal to Ukraine," Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin told Politico following the European Council summit on Thursday.
On Thursday, the President of the EU parliament Roberta Metsola also called on the EU bloc to consider sending long-range missiles and fighter jets to Ukraine.
Read more: Zelensky admits he never intended to implement Minsk agreements
However, not all EU leaders were as confident of the decision as their counterparts in fears that escalating matters with Moscow might lead to a direct confrontation between NATO/EU and the Russian army.
"There are many sensitive issues to be discussed, the pros and cons," stressed Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni slammed Macron's decision to invite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Paris ahead of an EU summit in Brussels.
"Frankly, the invitation to Zelensky yesterday seemed more inappropriate to me, because I think our strength in this fight is unity," she told reporters.
Some background
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attended an EU parliament meeting and a regular EU summit of the heads of state as a last-minute guest on Thursday.
His trip to Brussels came following a European short tour to the UK and France on Wednesday, where he was lobbying for more weapons and garnering support for his request from the 27-bloc member states to supply his country with lighter jets and long-range missiles.
In an address to the MEPs, Zelensky said that "we are defending against the most anti-European force of the modern world -- we are defending ourselves, we Ukrainians on the battlefield, along with you," as he urged for more advanced systems.
Read more: UK Defense: No approach towards blocking fighter jet supply to Ukraine
Metsola responded to Zelensky's address stating, "Ukraine is Europe and your nation's future is in the European Union."
"States must consider, quickly, as a next step, providing long-range systems and the jets you need to protect the liberty too many have taken for granted," she added.
During his address to the EU summit, Ukraine's leader said, "We have to enhance the dynamics of our cooperation, we have to do it faster than the aggressor," referring to the supply of combat jets and long-range missiles.
Macron does not exclude fighter jets, but not priority now
On his part, French President Emmanuel Macron said he does not exclude sending combat jets to Ukraine, however, the priority now is for the fast delivery of firepower as, according to Kiev, a large-scale Russian offensive is looming.
"I exclude absolutely nothing," Macron said on Friday after the end of the EU summit in response to a question on France's willingness to send the jets to Ukraine.
Despite his optimistic position, the French leader seemed to have toned down his statement, noting that sending the requested military systems to Kiev will not happen in "the coming weeks."
Read more: US to send M1A2 Abrams tanks to Ukraine
"I'm not ruling anything out," he said, arguing that fighter jets and long-range missiles do not "correspond to today's requirements."
"It is essential the allies favour the most useful equipment" and "the fastest", Macron added.
Russia warns the West
The spokesperson for the Russian Kremlin said on Thursday, "We [Russia] see this as a growing engagement of Germany, UK, France in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The boundary between indirect and direct engagement is gradually disappearing. We can only regret it."
"The actions of these countries lead to an escalation of tensions... make this conflict more painful... and these actions will not change the objectives of our country within the framework of the special military operation," Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov added.
