UK Defense Secretary Not Ruling Out Delivery Of Military Aircraft To Ukraine

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 02nd February, 2023) UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said on Wednesday that London has yet to make a "solid decision" not to supply Kiev with fighter jets and expressed his opinion that it is not the right approach "for now."

"I've been involved with this for a pretty long time. And I've learned two things: never rule anything in and never rule anything out... For now, I don't think that's the right approach ... What's going to move on this conflict this year is going to be the ability for Ukrainians to deploy western armour against Russia," Wallace said when asked about possible delivery of fighter jets to Ukraine by London, as quoted by The Guardian.

On Tuesday, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's spokesman ruled out the delivery of fighter jets to Ukraine, saying it would not be "practical" as "UK's Typhoon and F-35 fighter jets are extremely sophisticated and take months to learn how to fly.

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Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on NATO countries to unlock the supply of long-range missiles and military aircraft to Kiev after Western countries announced their intention to supply Ukraine with main battle tanks.

A group of US military officials is quietly lobbying to send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, which is gathering momentum in the US Defense Department as Kiev braces for a planned offensive this spring, Politico reported earlier in the month, citing sources. On Monday, US President Joe Biden said "no" when asked whether the Washington was considering sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.