Melnyk calls for more speed in the fighter jet debate
The Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andriy Melnyk assumes that Germany will deliver fighter jets to his country and calls for a quick decision on this. “German experts also say that Germany will deliver the fighter jets, it’s only a matter of time,” he said on Monday evening on the ARD program “Hart aber fair”. But the longer the debate on this lasts, the more difficult it will be for Ukraine to liberate the territories occupied by Russia. “We hope that the Germans, that the federal government will not draw red lines now (…), but will address what is important to us,” stressed Melnyk, adding: “The time factor is crucial.”
“Unfortunately, time is against us,” said Melnyk. The longer the fighter jet debate is delayed and Ukrainian pilots are not trained, the more new tanks Russian President Vladimir Putin could send to the front. Ukraine assumes that, just as with the main battle tanks, a European-transatlantic fighter jet alliance will be forged.
“It is clear, and all military experts say so, that Ukraine cannot win this war without the air force and without the navy,” he said. “This war can only be ended on the battlefield.” Negotiations are currently unimaginable. “Unfortunately, Putin still wants to destroy us. Unfortunately, he has not given up on this goal.”