German Chancellor Olaf Schultz doubled down on Kyiv’s demands to supply combat aircraft to Ukraine in the wake of the Berlin agreement to send combat tanks.
“The question of combat aircraft is not raised at all,” said Schulz. interview With Tagesspiegel published on Sunday. “I can only advise against getting into a constant competition to outbid each other when it comes to weapons systems.”
His comments come after a senior Ukrainian official said on Saturday that Kyiv and its Western allies were engaged in “fast-track” talks about possibly sending military aircraft as well as long-range missiles to help fight the Russian invasion.
Last week, Schultz ruled out providing fighter jets, citing the need to prevent further military escalation. he said on Wednesday, shortly after Germany and the United States agreed to submit advanced tanks For Kyiv’s war effort.
Ukraine I renewed his request For combat aircraft, immediately after Berlin and Washington announced tanks. Berlin said Germany and its European allies would send about 80 Leopard 2 tanks.
“If in Germany the next debate begins as soon as a decision is made, it does not look very serious and shakes citizens’ confidence in the government’s decisions,” said Schultz. tagespiegel. Such discussions should not be held for reasons of local political profiling. It is important for me now that all those who announced their intention to supply combat tanks to Ukraine do so.
Mykhailo Podolak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said on Saturday that Kyiv was in talks with allies about the planes, but that some partners had a “conservative” position on arms deliveries. Without mentioning any partners by name, he said that this position was “due to fear of changes in the international structure”.
Hans von der Burchard contributed to this report.
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