War in Ukraine, Macron does not rule out sending fighter jets to Kiev

War in Ukraine, Macron does not rule out sending fighter jets to Kiev

“Nothing is excluded in principle.” Emmanuel Macron said this about the Ukrainian request to send warplanes. In a press conference in The Hague, the French president said that the possibility of supplying fighter jets to Kiev will be evaluated in the light of the “criteria” with which Ukrainian requests are examined “case by case”.

According to Macron, the request must not lead to an “escalation”: that is, the supplies must not be used to reach “Russian soil” but “to help the effort of resistance and protection of Ukrainian soil”. Furthermore, they must not weaken “the ability of the French army to protect its soil”.

“Decisions are made based on the requests that are made [e] not on the rumors circulating,” Macron added, adding that the Ukrainian defense minister, Oleksii Reznikov, is expected in Paris tomorrow for a meeting with his French counterpart, Sébastien Lecornu.

The Prime Minister of the Netherlands also commented on the possible sending of warplanes to Kiev. According to Mark Rutte, his country did not receive the request but said it was in favor of the criteria mentioned by Macron. “There are no taboos, but it would be a big step,” he said.