German Chancellor Olaf Scholz doubled down on his rejection of calls for by Kyiv to produce Ukraine with fighter jets on the heels of Berlin’s settlement to ship battle tanks.
“The query of fight plane doesn’t come up in any respect,” Scholz mentioned in an interview with Tagesspiegel revealed on Sunday. “I can solely advise in opposition to coming into into a relentless competitors to outbid one another on the subject of weapons methods.”
His feedback come after a prime Ukrainian official mentioned on Saturday that Kyiv and its Western allies have been engaged in “fast-track” talks on probably sending navy plane in addition to long-range missiles to assist struggle the invasion by Russia.
Scholz final week dominated out offering fighter jets, citing the necessity to stop additional navy escalation. “There will likely be no fighter jet deliveries to Ukraine,” he mentioned on Wednesday, quickly after Germany and the U.S. agreed to offer superior tanks for Kyiv’s conflict effort.
Ukraine renewed its request for the fighter plane virtually instantly after Berlin and Washington introduced the tanks. Berlin mentioned Germany and its European allies will ship about 80 Leopard 2 tanks.
“If, as quickly as a call has been made, the subsequent debate begins in Germany, this doesn’t look very critical and shakes the arrogance of the residents in authorities selections,” Scholz advised Tagesspiegel. “Such debates shouldn’t be carried out for causes of home political profiling. It is very important me now that each one those that have introduced their intention to produce battle tanks to Ukraine achieve this,” he mentioned.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, mentioned on Saturday that Kyiv was in talks with allies about plane, however that some companions have a “conservative” perspective on arms deliveries. With out citing any companions by identify, he mentioned this perspective was “resulting from worry of adjustments within the worldwide structure.”
Hans von der Burchard contributed to this report.