After Germany, the US and other Western allies finally approved tank shipments to Ukraine, the country battling Russian invasion has now set its eyes on modern fighter jets, a wish supported by the Baltic States.
According to Politico, which interviewed several Western military officials and diplomats, conversation about supplying Ukraine with fighter jets is already underway, pushed by Ukrainian officials with support from hawkish Baltic States.
“The next natural step would be fighters,” a diplomat from a northern European country said.
However, the fears of escalation are still high.
According to the diplomat, Washington has told Kyiv that supplying aircraft is a “no-go, for the moment”.
“There’s a red line there – but last summer we had a red line on the HIMARS, and that moved. Then it was battle tanks, and that’s moving,” Politico quoted him as saying.
NATO defence ministers will again meet at the US military base of Ramstein next month, where they are expected to discuss air support to Ukraine.
Some European countries have already signaled their readiness to supply Ukraine with fighter jets. Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra told the Dutch parliament last week that his Cabinet would consider supplying F-16 fighter jets if Kyiv requested them.
Last month, Slovakian Foreign Minister Rastislav Kacer also said his government was “ready” to hand Soviet-era MiG-29 fighters to Kyiv and was talking with NATO partners and the Ukrainian president about how to do so.
However German Chancellor Olaf Scholz ruled out fighter jet deliveries on January 25: “There will be no fighter jet deliveries to Ukraine. This was made clear very early.” (LRT/Business World Magazine)