Scholz doubles down on refusal of fighter jets
for Ukraine
‘The question of combat aircraft does not arise at
all,’ German chancellor tells Tagesspiegel.
BY JONES
HAYDEN
JANUARY 29,
2023 10:40 PM CET
German
Chancellor Olaf Scholz doubled down on his rejection of demands by Kyiv to
supply Ukraine with fighter jets on the heels of Berlin’s agreement to send
battle tanks.
“The
question of combat aircraft does not arise at all,” Scholz said in an interview
with Tagesspiegel published on Sunday. “I can only advise against entering into
a constant competition to outbid each other when it comes to weapons systems.”
His
comments come after a top Ukrainian official said on Saturday that Kyiv and its
Western allies were engaged in “fast-track” talks on possibly sending military
aircraft as well as long-range missiles to help fight the invasion by Russia.
Scholz last
week ruled out providing fighter jets, citing the need to prevent further
military escalation. “There will be no fighter jet deliveries to Ukraine,” he
said on Wednesday, soon after Germany and the U.S. agreed to provide advanced
tanks for Kyiv’s war effort.
Ukraine
renewed its request for the fighter aircraft almost immediately after Berlin
and Washington announced the tanks. Berlin said Germany and its European allies
will send about 80 Leopard 2 tanks.
“If, as
soon as a decision has been made, the next debate starts in Germany, this does
not look very serious and shakes the confidence of the citizens in government
decisions,” Scholz told Tagesspiegel. “Such debates should not be conducted for
reasons of domestic political profiling. It is important to me now that all
those who have announced their intention to supply battle tanks to Ukraine do
so,” he said.
Mykhailo
Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on
Saturday that Kyiv was in talks with allies about aircraft, but that some
partners have a “conservative” attitude on arms deliveries. Without citing any
partners by name, he said this attitude was “due to fear of changes in the
international architecture.”
Hans von
der Burchard contributed to this report.
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