After the opening in Paris, the US closes the door on Kyiv with fighter jets to counter the Russian invasion of Ukraine. President Joe Biden ruled out the option when asked if he was in favor of sending F16s straight after announcing an upcoming trip to Poland, without specifying whether it would take place on the anniversary of the war, with a resounding “no.” answered February 24th. The anti-jet front is therefore spreading – at least for the time being – to Germany, which is also joined by London. Because British planes are “extremely sophisticated and require months of training”, “we believe it is impractical to deliver them to Ukraine”, he shortened Downing Street. Even our friend Poland rules out Warsaw talking about supplying fighter jets after leading the campaign to ensure the arrival of Western tanks in Ukraine:
“There are currently no official talks about F16 deployment,” Deputy Defense Minister Wojciech Skurkiewicz said. However, Kyiv does not give up and pulls out the numbers: at least 200 fighters are needed to defend the country’s airspace, according to Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ignat, who added that “at the moment the F16 is the most likely candidate to replace it the “old Soviet planes” operating in the country. Meanwhile, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksy Reznikov flew to Paris, where he confirmed that it was “not taboo” for France to talk about the hunt in Kyiv, so be Colleague Sebastien Lecornu. And after receiving a new French delivery of 12 Caesar guns in addition to the 18 already delivered, Reznikov said he was “optimistic” about a future delivery of planes. Even Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Kyiv was leading already “active negotiations to release” long-range missiles and fighter jets from the West, but it is clear that the jet issue was even more difficult than the already thorny tank issue Kyiv after days of fire before announcements by Germany and the United States. It is precisely on tanks that Kuleba has envisaged the arrival of 120-140 vehicles in a “first wave” of deliveries from a coalition of 12 countries, but for which we will have to wait at least until spring.
The President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella also underlined that Ukraine needs weapons to end the war, stating that “political, economic and military support for Ukraine and sanctions against Russia serve to end the war, not to feed him”. However, diplomatic tensions are escalating: the United States has accused Russia of not respecting New Start, the last nuclear arms control treaty remaining between the two nuclear superpowers, while Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov reportedly denied the US counterpart’s invitation Having received blinking is intended to stop the offensive in Ukraine. However, this is clearly not the intention of Moscow, which is looking to its allies: after the announcement of a visit to the Kremlin by Chinese leader Xi Jinping in the spring – but not confirmed by Beijing – Vladimir Putin announced joint military training centers with Minsk , and the Belarusian President Lukashenko said he was ready to continue helping Moscow in the war, even if there was “no need” at the moment.
For Kyiv, on the other hand, there is only one “peace formula”, the 10-point formula worked out by President Zelenskyy, which, among other things, provides for the restoration of the integrity of all of Ukraine, which Moscow cannot accept. As is known, the Ukrainian government, together with its allies, is considering asking the 193 UN member countries to vote in the assembly on a resolution precisely on the peace plan to mark the anniversary of the war, with the assumption that Zelenskyy will visit the Glass on the eve of February 24 Palace in New York. However, according to ANSA from UN diplomatic circles, numerous countries are not at all convinced and are signaling the risk of limited support, which would actually be counterproductive. Meanwhile, the war on the ground continues: in Bakhmut, a focal point of the war in Donetsk, two civilians were killed by Russian bombs, including a 12-year-old boy. According to ISW analysts, Russia has probably not yet used up all its reserves and is strengthening the army in Donbass in preparation for another “upcoming offensive”. Meanwhile, more than 9,000 Russian citizens have been flown home after being mistakenly sent to war, Russian Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov said.
ANSA agency
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