Ukrainian pilots will begin to receive training to operate “NATO-standard” fighter jets, according to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed for weapons to prevent “stagnation” in the face of the Russian invasion.
“The first step in being able to provide advanced aircraft is to have soldiers or aviators that are capable of using them,” Sunak told reporters during a visit from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. “That is a process. It takes some time. We started that process today. That’s because we’re keen to support the president and his country in delivering a victory, and nothing is off the table.”
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Sunak touted the initiative as a portent of “long-term” security for Ukraine, leaving open the question of when such fighter jets might be available on a Ukrainian battlefield. Yet the announcement could put additional pressure on other Western allies to endorse the provision of NATO-grade warplanes to Ukraine.
“This is an evolving process, and we will continue to make judgments about what we think Ukraine needs and what it can be most effective in using,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday when asked to explain why the United States has not joined the United Kingdom in such a step. “We’ll do that in very close consultation with the Ukrainians and, of course, in consultation with our partners.”
The announcement in London puts Sunak in a now-familiar position of setting a precedent that might be followed by other Western powers, as he was the first Western leader to authorize the provision of main battle tanks to Ukraine. This decision was followed soon after by similar pledges from the U.S. and Germany.
“We are also accelerating the delivery of our equipment, and the equipment of our allies, to ensure it reaches your front line in the coming days and weeks, not months or years,” Sunak said. “The Ukrainian crews who arrived last week will be using Challenger 2 tanks to defend Ukraine’s sovereign territory next month.”
Zelensky swept through London for meetings with Sunak and King Charles III, as well as an address at Westminster Abbey, where he gifted a Ukrainian fighter pilot’s helmet to punctuate an appeal for airplanes.
“In Britain, the King is an air force pilot. And in Ukraine today, every air force pilot is the king for us, for our families,” he said. “It’s the helmet of a real Ukrainian pilot. He is one of our most successful aces. He is one of our kings. And the writing on the helmet reads: ‘We have freedom. Give us wings to protect it.’ I trust this symbol will help us form our next coalition — coalition of the plan.”
Zelensky’s trip to the U.K. was followed within hours by an appearance with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Paris.
“Russia cannot and must not win this war. As long as Russia continues to attack, we will continue to adapt and moderate the necessary military support to preserve Ukraine and its future,” Macron said, adding that his government would “help Ukraine to victory and the re-establishment of its legitimate rights.”
That rhetoric points to a shift in policy from Macron, who authorized the transfer of light tanks even before Sunak donated the heavier Challenger 2’s, according to Zelensky.
“I think he has changed and changed for real this time,” the Ukrainian leader told a French media outlet, Le Figaro. “After all, it is he who paved the way for the delivery of tanks. And he has also supported Ukraine’s membership in the EU. I think that was a real signal.”
U.S. and European powers have hastened in recent weeks to orchestrate an influx of tanks and other heavy armored vehicles to Ukraine in advance of an expected Russian offensive. Zelensky downplayed the idea of a new offensive in the future — “to think about when an offensive will begin … has it ever stopped? It was just of a different intensity,” he told reporters in London — and emphasized the need for more of the heavy armored weapons that Western allies are making available.
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“They just keep on throwing their people onto the battlefield, you know, whereas we have pity and protect our people; we would not throw them just onto the battlefield. We needed to prepare them.” Zelensky told reporters through an interpreter. “And now we’ve come to kind of this stagnation phase. … Eithout the weapons that we are discussing now… there will be stagnation, which will not bring anything good.”
