EU top diplomat does not rule out delivery of fighter jets to Kyiv

Ahead of the EU-Ukraine summit in Kyiv, the bloc's top diplomat Josep Borrell told that he does not rule out the delivery of fighter jets to Ukraine, despite the reserved position of many western countries, including Germany and the USA, DW reported. The diplomat stated on 1 February that the supply of battle tanks to Ukraine was also at first a contentious issue, but eventually, a consensus was reached across this "red line." Borrell recalled that fears of a possible escalation of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine were expressed in the past before each new stage of deliveries of Western arms to Kyiv. When asked if he himself approved of the possible delivery of fighter jets, the diplomat did not answer. "My task is to reach a consensus," dpa quoted Borrell as saying. At the same time, he explained that in such a situation, one should not openly take a position, so as not to interfere with this. The UK was the first of Ukraine’s allies to break the stalemate on providing main battle tanks to the front, announcing on 15 January that it will supply 14 Challenger 2 tanks in the “coming weeks.” This was followed by the decisions of Germany and the US to provide Leopard 2 and Abrams tanks, which unblocked a coalition of countries willing to supply their German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine. After this, Ukraine's leadership turned to advocating for the supply of modern fighting jets. Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi has told that Ukraine needs 300 tanks to push Russia back to its pre-invasion positions.

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