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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the United Kingdom this week in what would be his second foreign visit since the war began in February last year. During his visit to London, Zelenskyy secured a pledge to train Ukrainian troops on NATO fighter jets.
Zelenskyy visited London on Wednesday to meet with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and also deliver an address to lawmakers in parliament. During his address to lawmakers in parliament, Zelenskyy stressed the need for combat aircraft, referring to the jets as “wings for freedom.” At a joint news conference, Sunak said, “nothing is off the table” in terms of supplying Ukraine with jets to continue to push back against Russia.
While the announcement by the UK did not commit to providing Ukraine with fighter jets, it appeared to signal that other countries may do so. This comes as the West has stopped short of providing Ukraine with fighter jets following Kyiv’s securing of battle tanks.
Following the visit to London, Zelenskyy also visited Paris, where he met with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for talks, with the Ukrainian leader reiterating the need for aircraft. Both Macron and Scholz pledged continued support for Ukraine.
“France and Germany have the potential to be game changers and that’s how I see our talks today,” said Zelenskyy. “The sooner we get heavy long-range weapons and our pilots get modern planes…the quicker this Russian aggression will end.”
The United States, which has refused to send fighter jets to Kyiv, is expected to announce its new $2 billion weapons package in the coming days, including rockets equipped with bombs that have double the range of those that Washington sent last year.
Zelenskyy is set to travel to Brussels on Thursday in the hopes of urging leaders of the European Union to provide more weapons for Ukraine and for EU membership talks to begin. During his trip to Brussels, Zelenskyy is also expected to address the European Parliament.
“We need the support of the European Council to speed up arms deliveries to Ukraine,” said a Ukrainian official regarding Zelenskyy’s upcoming visit. “We badly need as of now, as of yesterday, long-range artillery, all types of artillery ammunition.”
