Sunak spoke about the work on creating a coalition for the supply of fighters to the Armed Forces of Ukraine

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was working on creating a coalition to supply fighter jets to Ukraine. The day before, May 14, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed the creation of a coalition with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Today, Mr. Zelensky discussed this topic with the British Prime Minister.

Mr. Sunak assured the Ukrainian leader and members of the press that the training of Ukrainian pilots on Western fighter jets would start “relatively soon.” At the same time, the British Prime Minister made a reservation that the issue of supplying aircraft to Kyiv would not be an easy one.

“I am talking to the leaders of other countries, this week I will do it as part of my own international events. We really want to create a coalition of countries to provide Vladimir (Zelensky.—“b”) and his people the air support they need,” said Mr. Sunak (quote – The Telegraph).

IN statement The British government indicated that the kingdom will provide opportunities for training Ukrainian pilots to fly Western-style fighters. The training “will go hand in hand with the UK’s efforts” to provide other countries with US F-16s. The British government calls the latter “Ukraine’s preferred fighters.”

At the same time, London does not intend to send its own aircraft to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. “Ukraine has decided to train its pilots on the F-16, and you know that the Royal Air Force does not use them,” spokesman Rishi Sunaka told reporters (quote – CNN).

The United States has repeatedly denied the possibility of delivering F-16s to Kyiv. The White House pointed out that Ukraine “does not need” weapons of this type. On April 30, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said that Kyiv had made progress in negotiations on the supply of these aircraft.

Read more about what happens after the entry of Russian troops into Ukraine in the Kommersant online broadcast.

Grigory Leiba