Paris: France is planning to provide Mirage 2000 warplanes to Ukraine to fend off attacks by the Russian forces in the ongoing conflict that has spanned more than two years, announced President Emmanuel Macron as he met his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the D-Day commemorations. Macron said his government will announce the provision of the warplanes to Ukraine on Friday.
He did not specify how many Mirages France would provide, by when or under what financial terms. Macron had also proposed at least 4,500 Ukrainian pilots to be trained in France from this summer but did not say where the soldiers would be trained. Zelenskyy said in September he had struck an agreement on training Ukraine pilots in France in conversation with Macron.
Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February, 2022, Kyiv has pressed Western allies to supply increasingly sophisticated arms and ammunition, including armoured vehicles, tanks, long-range missiles and US-made F-16 fighters. Zelenskyy has been on a whirlwind European tour for more Western help even as his forces battled to stave off a Russian onslaught near the eastern city of Kharkiv.
Zelenskyy and his wife, Olena, attended the 80th anniversary events in Normandy with President Joe Biden and European leaders who have supported Kyiv's efforts in the war, now in its third year. Zelenskyy will meet with French officials in Paris on Friday.
Ukraine should be allowed to use Western arms: Macron
Macron reiterated that Ukraine should be allowed to use weapons provided by its Western allies to target Russian military targets and “neutralise the points from which (the country) is being attacked.” This came after the Netherlands and Denmark also promised to give F-16 warplanes to Ukraine and the US is training Ukrainian pilots at a base in Arizona.
Mirage 2000 is a French multi-role, single-engine, fourth-generation jet fighter, but it remains to be seen how effective it would be on the field. Meanwhile, the first F-16 jets are expected to arrive in Ukraine later in 2024, although their impact on the war could be limited by the strength of Russia's air force.
Although the promise of French aircraft will be welcome in Kyiv, Ukraine is currently fighting to hold back a recent Russian push in eastern areas, including the border regions of Kharkiv and Donetsk, that seeks to exploit Kyiv's shortages of ammunition and troops along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line. As part of that effort, NATO allies said they would allow Ukraine to use weapons they deliver to Kyiv to carry out limited attacks inside Russia.
US to send new $225 million military package to Ukraine
Meanwhile, the US will send about $225 million in military aid to Ukraine, US officials said Thursday, in a new package that includes ammunition Kyiv's forces could use to strike threats inside Russia to defend the city of Kharkiv from a heavy Russian assault. The officials said the aid includes munitions for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, as well as mortar systems and an array of artillery rounds.
Under a new US directive, Ukraine can use such weapons to strike across the border into Russia if forces there are attacking or preparing to attack. That change, however, does not alter US policy that directs Ukraine not to use American-provided ATACMS or long-range missiles and other munitions to strike offensively inside Russia, according to US officials.
The new aid package comes as President Joe Biden used his speech Thursday at the American cemetery in Normandy on the 80th anniversary of D-Day to vow that the US “will not walk away” from the defence of Ukraine and allow Russia to threaten more of Europe. To do so, he said, would mean the US has forgotten “what happened here on these hallowed beaches.” Biden is expected to meet Zelenskyy on Friday.
Putin threatens of missile deployment after Western support to Kyiv
The developments came after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Wednesday that he could deploy conventional missiles within striking distance of the United States and its European allies for providing long-range weapons to Ukraine that could reach deeper into Russia. Putin warned the West against underestimating Russia's willingness to use nuclear weapons, emphasising the seriousness of the Kremlin's nuclear doctrine.
Addressing NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg's calls to allow Ukraine to use Western weapons to strike Russian territory, Putin warned that such actions would escalate tensions and draw the West closer to war with Russia. He indicated that Russia's response would involve shooting down Western missiles, specifically mentioning US ATACMS and British and French missile systems.
(with inputs from agencies)
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