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LONDON – Rishi Sunak has asked his defense chief to see if the UK can provide fighter jets to Ukraine on the “long term”.
Speaking during a surprise visit to Britain On Wednesday, from Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, the prime minister’s official spokesman said Defense Secretary Ben Wallace was now “actively looking at whether we send the jets to Ukraine”.
He told reporters: “The Prime Minister has tasked the Defense Secretary to investigate what jets we can deliver – but clearly this is a long-term solution.”
The comments came just hours after Zelensky made a rare address to both houses of the British parliament, during which the Ukrainian leader made a fresh plea for his country to provide fighter jets as it seeks to repel Russia’s aggression.
According to an official in Paris, Zelensky’s next stop will be France.
Downing Street is first argued It is not “practical” to provide Ukraine with the highly complex jets, which would take extensive training to use, although it was made clear at the same time that the UK would continue to “listen carefully” to Ukrainian requests for support.
Speaking on Wednesday, Sunak’s spokesman insisted that no decision had yet been made on providing the jets, and that the UK was taking a “multi-year approach to our support for Ukraine”.
Zelensky had earlier addressed an audience of MPs, peers and journalists at Westminster Hall, the medieval center of the British Parliament, as Kyiv prepared for an anticipated Russian offensive.
He negotiated with Sunak and would be allowed a meeting with King Charles III.
The British prime minister had already announced on Wednesday that Britain would now train pilots on NATO-standard fighter jets as well as naval operations. This will be combined with an expansion of British training for Ukrainian military recruits from 10,000 to 20,000 soldiers this year.
Sunak’s spokesman said Britain hoped to receive the first Ukrainian pilots for training in the spring, and confirmed that the initiative would involve training them to fly British aircraft.
‘Helping Hand’
A handful of leaders have given such a speech at Westminster Hall over the past 30 years, including Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama and, more recently, King Charles III.
Addressing the assembled parliamentarians, Zelensky thanked Britain for “extending a helping hand” at a time when the world did not yet know how to respond to Russia’s invasion, and pointed several times to Western air help. .
Zelensky presented the Speaker of the House of Commons, Lindsay Hoyle, with the helmet of one of Ukraine’s most successful pilots, inscribed with a plea for modern fighter aircraft, which read: “We have freedom, we must defend it.” Give me wings.”
Increasing the pressure on Sunak, Zelensky quipped that he had left parliament two years earlier grateful for “delicious English tea”, but this time he said he would leave parliament by “thanking you all in advance for the mighty English planes”. Will leave
And he described the prospect of an audience with the king as “a really special moment for me”: “The king is an Air Force pilot. And every Air Force pilot in Ukraine today is a king.
The Ukrainian leader also paid a personal tribute to former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was prominent in the audience. “Boris, you united others when it seemed absolutely impossible,” he said.
Before Sunak took office, Zelensky had forged a bond with Johnson, who as prime minister had been one of Ukraine’s most vocal supporters and even made a surprise visit to Kyiv after leaving office. Sunak has pledged to maintain UK support since taking office in October, although Johnson has urged the West to move to accept the fighter jets’ demands.
‘Unimaginable difficulties’
It is Zelensky’s first visit to Britain since Russia’s invasion nearly a year ago and his second confirmed visit outside Ukraine during the war after visiting the United States.
The Ukrainian president arrived at an airport north of London on a visit by a Royal Air Force plane to a closely guarded secret until early Wednesday morning.
Recalling his first visit to London in 2020 when he sat in British wartime leader Winston Churchill’s chair, Zelensky said: “I definitely felt something – but it is only now that I know what the feeling was It is a realization of how bravery gets you through the most unimaginable difficulties and ultimately rewards you with victory.”
Although Ukraine’s leader is also expected to visit Brussels later this week question mark about his visit after the plans were leaked on Monday.
Hopes are growing in Brussels that the Ukrainian leader may also make his first visit to EU institutions since the start of the war.
Leaders of the Group of 27 nations will gather for a summit in Brussels on Thursday, allowing Zelensky to meet all major leaders in one day.
The trip to London came as Russian forces blasted areas of eastern Ukraine with more artillery bombardments, Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday, amid what Kyiv officials believe is a new offensive by the Kremlin’s forces ahead of the anniversary of the invasion. Part of the push.