Commitments to Zelenskyj
France and Germany strengthen Ukrainian military
05/15/2023 03:41 am
Tanks and air defense systems, but no more fighter jets: During his two-day trip abroad, Ukrainian President Selenskyj was promised further military aid. But he continues to ask for planes – it seems – in vain.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy returns to Kiev with the promise of further urgently needed military aid from Germany and France. In Berlin and Paris, Selenskyj repeatedly insisted on the delivery of fighter jets. However, both Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Emmanuel Macron reacted cautiously. According to the Élysée Palace, the French head of state wants to comment on further military aid to Ukraine in a TV interview on Monday evening.
The subject of fighter jets is recurring, it was said from Paris, the question is probably a bit premature. Before you can deliver an airplane, you have to have trained pilots. The training takes a while – and the Ukrainian pilots were not trained on French models. Scholz said on the issue of fighter jets that Germany had delivered a lot to Ukraine. Germany is concentrating on supporting the defensive struggle. After the USA, the Federal Republic is the second largest supporter of Ukraine.
To ward off the Russian war of aggression, Germany has now pledged military support worth an additional 2.7 billion euros. Among other things, 20 more Marder armored personnel carriers, 30 Leopard 1 tanks and four Iris-T SLM anti-aircraft systems are to be provided by the German defense industry. France promised to supply dozens of armored vehicles and light tanks, as well as long-range air defense systems. In addition, thousands more Ukrainian soldiers are to be trained by France in the current year.
Thanks to France and Germany
Zelenskyy thanked Germany and France for their military support. “I thank Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the German people for the strong defense package, for their leadership in defending human lives against Russian terror together with us,” he wrote on Twitter. He is grateful to Macron and the entire French people “for the military support of our fighters, which helps in the fight against Russian terrorists”. “Together we bring peace closer to all Ukrainians and Europeans,” he continued.
Zelenskyy came on Sunday after talks in Rome for his first visit to Germany since the beginning of the invasion of Russia. In Berlin, Selenskyj met Chancellor Scholz, among others. In the afternoon, Selenskyj and the Ukrainian people were awarded the Charlemagne Prize in Aachen for their services to the unity of Europe. Surprisingly, Zelenskyj then traveled on to Paris, where he met Macron – it was his second visit to France since the beginning of the war. Whether the Ukrainian President wanted to leave during the night or after an overnight stay in Paris was left open for security reasons.