2023-05-23 18:13:22
Ammunition, tanks and maybe soon fighter jets: the EU wants to continue to provide massive support to Ukraine in the war once morest the aggressor Russia. The Union’s defense ministers discussed this on Tuesday in Brussels.
The supplies from the EU are intended to prevent bottlenecks in the Ukrainian armed forces and enable them to launch new, perhaps decisive, offensives once morest Russian troops.
The focus of the discussion is now the provision of aircraft. Some EU countries now even want to form a so-called fighter jet coalition.
In Brussels, Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren confirmed that his country was ready to start by training Ukrainian pilots and, in a next step, might also deliver F-16 fighter jets to Kiev.
The Netherlands might “work together with Denmark, Belgium, the United Kingdom and other allies” in Europe, as Ollongren said. Since the Netherlands wanted to switch to modern F-35 fighter jets, it might make sense to give up the F-16.
Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) has ruled out Germany’s significant participation in the fighter jet coalition for Ukraine for the time being.
The German contribution is “not significant because we simply don’t have any F-16 aircraft and probably mightn’t help much with pilot training either,” Pistorius said on Tuesday on the sidelines of the EU defense ministers’ meeting in Brussels.
I see no risk of escalation at this point.
Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius to the question of whether aircraft deliveries might draw the West more into the war
When asked whether the possible delivery of F-16 fighter jets also posed a risk of the West being drawn into this war, the defense minister said: “I see no risk of escalation at this point.”
The delivery of cruise missiles to Ukraine was also discussed in Brussels. Earlier, Britain had announced that it would provide Kiev with longer-range missiles. However, Boris Pistorius was very reluctant to comment on this.
Kiesewetter spoke regarding the delivery of cruise missiles
CDU defense expert Roderich Kiesewetter recently announced the delivery of German Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine. He stressed that these weapons enabled Ukraine to “strike once morest the Russian military infrastructure far behind the front lines.”
The SPD defense minister emphasized in Brussels that the aim is to provide significant support to Ukraine, but that this must be done responsibly. At the same time, Pistorius declared that he “believed that we should support Ukraine with all the systems permissible under international law that it takes to win this war and that we are able to provide”.
Germany might help with training
The inspector of the air force, meanwhile, believes that a German contribution to the Ukrainian fighter jet coalition is possible, even though Germany does not have the machines favored by Kiev. “Nations that don’t have an F-16 can provide more marginal support here, such as infrastructure or training,” Ingo Gerhartz told the Tagesspiegel. In addition, aircraft can be used interoperably within NATO, which is why the armament of a German Eurofighter can easily be transferred to an F-16 for the Ukraine.
Gerhartz described it as “a political decision” to what extent Germany wants to participate in the so-called fighter jet coalition, which became public knowledge on the sidelines of the G7 summit meeting in Japan. “Not least because of the quick availability, the Ukraine is now relying on the F16 to better support its land forces,” the Air Force Inspector continued: “Many countries have just retired their machines and might deliver them to the Ukraine in a timely manner.” Brussels also ordered the delivery of cruise missiles to Ukraine. Earlier, Britain had announced that it would provide Kiev with longer-range missiles.
Hungary once once more caused great anger among defense ministers in Brussels because Budapest was once once more blocking EU military aid to Ukraine. The background is that Hungary’s largest bank OTP is on a Ukrainian list of supporters of the Russian war of aggression.
A Hungarian government spokesman told the EU meeting that his country would only support the Union’s new military aid if the OTP bank were delisted. Specifically, Hungary is blocking an increase in the so-called European Peace Facility (EFF). This is a financing instrument through which the EU is already providing arms and equipment and funding the training of the Ukrainian armed forces.
Defense Minister Pistorius found unusually clear words for this and declared in Brussels that he was “somewhat disappointed or irritated by the behavior of the Hungarian friends”. He might not share the reasons put forward by Hungary.
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