London will not supply Ukraine with fighter jets in the short term – Wallace
The UK will not send fighter jets to Ukraine in the “short term”. However, London is ready to provide combat aircraft to European allies so that they, in turn, can send Soviet-style fighters to Ukraine.
This was stated by Defense Minister Ben Wallace in an interview with Western media.
Thus, on Sky News, he explained that when Britain supplies Ukraine with weapons, it must make sure that it can ensure their proper use and training for the military.
Wallace noted that “hundreds of people” should be sent to our country along with the fighter jets, and the West “is not going to send troops to Ukraine on this scale.”
At the same time, Wallace hinted that future deliveries of aircraft should not be ruled out.
– “The only thing I have learned in this conflict is that you can’t control anything and you can’t rule anything out,” the minister said.
Wallace also told Times Radio that Britain could provide modern fighter jets to its Eastern European allies so that they could send Soviet-made warplanes to Ukraine.
According to the minister, one of the ways to quickly help our country is to provide MiG-29 fighters or Su-24 bombers, which some European countries have.
– A quick way that Ukraine can benefit from fighter jets is for those European countries that have Soviet MiG-29 or Su-24 fighters, and if they want to give them to Ukraine, we can offer our fighters for their safety,” Wallace emphasized.
The minister added that NATO member states have already been trained to operate modern fighter jets, while Ukraine has not yet.
Wallace clarified that in return, the UK provided Kyiv with nearly 200 tanks and helicopters.
The head of the British Ministry of Defense also said that his country is taking steps to restore its ammunition stocks, which were exhausted during the assistance to Ukraine. The Ministry has already started placing orders to replenish them.
– We’ve started working to make sure we have a supply chain or to find alternative sources,” Wallace said, adding that there are plans to increase ammunition production.
As you know, Ukraine has been calling on its Western allies to provide modern fighter jets, but so far no country has agreed to supply them. NATO allies explain their delay in this matter by saying that it would take too long to train pilots.
Recently, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak proposed to start training Ukrainian pilots.
At the same time, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said that Ukraine will be able to receive Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets only after the war is over.
