Zelenskiy calls for combat jets from west during tour of Europe; Nato chief says Russia is preparing for a new military offensive
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has used a visit to Paris to urge Europe to deliver combat aircraft and heavy arms to Ukraine as soon as possible. “The sooner Ukraine gets long-range heavy weaponry, the sooner our pilots get planes, the sooner this Russian aggression will end and we can return to peace in Europe,” the Ukrainian president said as he arrived at the Élysée Palace on Wednesday. Zelenskiy met with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, urging them to be “game changers” by sending modern planes and then “the quicker this Russian aggression will end”.
Macron said Paris would “continue the efforts” to deliver arms to Kyiv, adding that France was determined to help Ukraine towards “victory, peace and Europe”. “Russia cannot and must not win,” he said, adding that “the future of Europe” was at stake in Ukraine. Scholz said it was clear that Moscow would not win, and assured Ukraine its future was in the EU, saying Ukraine was part of the “European family”. “Putin will not achieve his goals – not on the battlefield and not through a dictated peace.”
Zelenskiy said Macron had undergone a significant change in his stance towards Ukraine after the French president had sought to keep channels open to Russia in the early phase of the conflict. “I think he [Macron] has changed,” Zelenskiy said in an interview published in Le Figaro on Wednesday night. “And he’s changed for real this time. After all, he opened the door to tank deliveries. He also supported Ukraine’s candidacy for the EU. I believe it was a real signal. We had a lot of conversations with France, Germany and other countries. I believe that trust is real today.”
Zelenskiy also made an emotional appeal to the UK to supply Ukraine with fighter jets on a surprise visit to the UK earlier on Wednesday. “I appeal to you and the world with simple and yet most important words: combat aircrafts – for Ukraine! Wings – for freedom!” he said. Rishi Sunak, previously opposed to handing over UK jets, has ordered a defence ministry review into whether Zelenskiy’s request can be met, saying “nothing was off the table”.
Pledges of support by Sunak, the UK prime minister, included training Ukrainian pilots on advanced Nato fighter jets “to ensure Ukraine can defend its skies well into the future”. Sunak added: “The first step in being able to provide advanced aircrafts is to have soldiers or aviators that are capable of using them. That is a process. It takes some time, we’ve started that process today.”
The expansion of the UK’s training programme to include fighter pilots is significant as Zelenskiy has repeatedly called on western countries to supply planes. The UK has so far refused, arguing that the RAF’s F-35 and Typhoon jets take too long for pilots to train on. Sunak also confirmed that UK Challenger 2 tanks would be deployed in Ukraine next month.
The Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said there was no sign of Russia preparing for peace. “On the contrary, Moscow is preparing for new military offensives,” he said during a joint press conference with the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken.
Zelenskiy was expected to travel to Brussels on Thursday, with leaders of EU countries due there for a summit. A senior Ukrainian official said the president would ask for more arms to fight Russia and for the EU to move quickly on Ukraine’s bid to join. Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, would meet with Zelenskiy on the sidelines of a European Council meeting, a government source told Reuters.
