The German chancellor firmly rejected Ukraine’s request for the supply of fighter jets after agreeing to send tanks.
The question of the fighter plane is not raised at all. I can only advise against engaging in a constant competition to pay a higher price,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in an interview. Tagesspiegel newspaper was published on January 29.
Scholz’s comments came after a top Ukrainian official said on January 28 that Kyiv and its Western allies were in talks to speed up talks on a plan to send fighter jets and long-range missiles. to help Ukraine against Russia.
Last week, Prime Minister Scholz also ruled out the possibility of supplying fighter jets to Ukraine, citing the “need to prevent further serious military escalation”.
“There will be no delivery of combat aircraft to Ukraine,” Scholz said on January 25 after Germany and the United States agreed to supply modern tanks to Kyiv.
Ukraine renewed its request for fighter jets almost immediately after Berlin and Washington announced they would send tanks to Kyiv. Earlier, Berlin said it would join its European allies to send Kyiv about 80 Leopard 2 tanks.
“As soon as this decision was made, subsequent debates began in Germany, which did not seem very serious and shook the public’s confidence in the government’s decisions.”, Chancellor Scholz told the Tagesspiegel newspaper.
Such debates should not happen for internal political reasons, he said. “It is also important to me that everyone who has announced their intention to supply tanks to Ukraine will do the same,” Scholz said.
Earlier, Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky, said that Kyiv is in talks with its allies about the supply of fighter jets, but some partners have a “conservative” attitude towards arms transfer.
Without naming any partners, Mr Podolyak said the attitude was due to “fear of changes in the international structure”.
