Zelensky hopes for ‘a significant number’ of Western fighter jets
UKRAINIAN President Volodymyr Zelensky voiced optimism on Thursday that his European allies will follow his call to supply Kiev with modern fighter jets.
“Today I’ve heard powerful support from many countries,” Zelensky said after a summit of almost 50 European leaders in Moldova, according to the English translation of his remarks provided by the organization.
He heard about “a significant number” of fighter aircrafts, the Ukrainian president said. Zelensky stressed that the planes were needed primarily for the protection of the Ukrainian population from Russian air attacks and not for a counteroffensive.
Kiev has already received air defence systems and some Soviet-made fighter jets, and some European countries agreed to train Ukrainian pilots on modern jets.
Until Ukraine received more aircrafts, Kiev will need more Patriot air defence systems, Zelensky said.
The Ukrainian president urged his European allies to support Ukraine with modern fighter jets and Patriot systems, when addressing fellow leaders at a summit held in the town of Bulboaca, some 20 kilometres away from the Ukrainian border.
“A coalition of Patriots that will put an end to Russian blackmail by ballistic missiles, and a coalition of modern fighter jets that will prove that terror against our citizens has no chance” are “decisive components,” Zelensky told his counterparts.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stressed the importance of air defence systems already provided by Berlin, arriving at the meeting.
This was particularly visible now where “there are so many attacks on the part of the Russian Federation with missiles, with aircrafts, with cruise missiles,” he said.