No 10 pledged to work with other Western allies on securing the planes the Ukrainian president wants, and announced a new flying school to help train his country’s pilots in Britain – but made clear that the UK has no plans to supply British jets to Ukraine.
When Mr Zelensky visited parliament in February, he pleaded with the UK and other nations for jets – presenting Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle with a pilot’s helmet as he called for “wings for freedom”. But after talks between Mr Sunak and Mr Zelensky, it emerged that Ukraine has opted to seek the American F-16 jets used by many Nato members – but not the UK – as it tries to shift away from Soviet-era planes towards modern military equipment.
“The Ukrainian government has made the decision to train their pilots on F-16 jets; that’s a decision for them,” said Mr Sunak’s spokesperson. “I believe they are in discussions with other countries who use those jets, and we are working with those countries.”
Following two hours of negotiations with the PM at Chequers, Mr Zelensky said: “We want to create this jets coalition, and I’m very positive with it. We spoke about it, and I see that in the closest time, you will hear some, I think, very important decisions – but we have to work a little bit more on it.”
Bu hikaye The Independent dergisinin May 16, 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye The Independent dergisinin May 16, 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
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