BERLIN (Reuters) – Ukraine’s Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov wants Germany and Britain to send his country Eurofighter Typhoon jets to combat Russian air attacks, he said in an interview published on Tuesday by the Funke media group.
Ukraine has been campaigning for its Western allies to provide it with fighter jets, in particular the U.S.-built F-16s flown by several NATO nations.
Germany and Britain have so far declined to send jets, saying they do not have the F-16s that Ukraine wants. They say the time required to train pilots and the substantial support crews needed to send their Eurofighter Typhoon jets meant they would be of little immediate use.
Reznikov, however, said these could also be helpful in Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invasion.
“If Britain and Germany were to combine their Eurofighter supply capabilities, that would be an important step,” he was quoted as saying.
A spokesperson for the German defence ministry said Berlin’s stance still stood. Britain’s defence ministry did not immediately respond.
So far, no Western-designed jets have been donated. Poland and Slovakia have supplied 27 MiG-29s to supplement Ukraine’s Soviet-era fleet.
(Reporting by Katharina Loesche; Additional Reporting by Sabine Siebold and Sachin Ravikumar; Writing by Sarah Marsh; Editing by Giles Elgood)
