Ukraine received fighter jets to strengthen its air force
Ukrainian Su-27 fighter jets flying in Zhytomyr Oblast in Ukraine, December 6, 2018 (Illustrative image).
© Mikhail Palinchak/AP
Text by: RFI Follow
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Ukraine has received fighter jets and spare parts to strengthen its air force, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday, declining to specify their number or the countries that provided the aircraft.
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President Volodymyr Zelensky has been asking for them since the start of the Russian invasion.
So far the answer has been no, the Western camp fearing to be considered co-belligerent by Russia.
This is apparently changing, reports our correspondent in Washington,
Guillaume Naudin
.
Combat aircraft and spare parts have reached the Ukrainian army.
“
I would only say, not to mention what other nations are providing, that they have received new platforms and new parts to be able to increase the size of their fleet.
In this specific case, a platform is an airplane.
They have received additional aircraft and aircraft parts to allow them to fly more aircraft
,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby confirmed.
He specified that the United States, which does not want to appear as a belligerent country in this conflict, had facilitated the sending of spare parts to Ukrainian territory but had not sent planes there.
The type of aircraft not specified
Neither the type of aircraft nor the countries that supplied them are specified, but they are probably Soviet-designed aircraft that Ukrainian soldiers are used to.
Last week, Moscow warned the United States against delivering sensitive weapons that could have unpredictable consequences for regional and international security.
According to press reports, a new tranche of US military aid is in preparation.
Joe Biden has already confirmed that he will send more artillery to Ukraine.
kyiv demanded from its Western partners Mig-29s that its soldiers already know how to fly, and which a handful of Eastern European countries have.
A possible transfer of such Russian planes from Poland had been discussed at the beginning of March,
before the United States opposed it,
fearing that Russia could see too much direct involvement of NATO in the conflict.
All of our daily, live coverage of the war in Ukraine.
© FMM Graphic Studio
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