Ukraine will receive two or three types of aircraft – defense minister
Photo: Vitalii Nosach/RBC-Ukraine
Although the West has not yet given the "green light" for the transfer of combat aircraft to Ukraine, the defense minister Oleksiy Reznikov is confident Ukraine will soon receive the fighter jets.
It will be some sort of a coalition, the minister said in an interview with Bild.
«I think it's going to be kind of a coalition again… I'm sure we'll have two or three fighter types» Reznikov said.
He explained that there will be one "main plane" (type of plane – ed.), and it will depend on which one will be better for Ukrainian airfields, engineers, for maintenance. But there will also be other types. The minister compared it to the situation with tanks: "In the tank coalition, the main animal in the zoo is the Leopard from Germany, but we also have Challenger, Abrams, and light tanks from France."
Reznikov reminded that Germany previously categorically did not want to send tanks, and today the first of them are already in Ukraine.
The defense minister also dismissed the possibility of talks with the kremlin dictator vladimir putin.
"My president made it clear that we will not negotiate with the current head of the Kremlin. Ukraine is ready to negotiate reparations, an international tribunal and responsibility for the Kremlin's war crimes, the so-called Nuremberg-2,"Reznikov said.
He sees the liberation of all territories temporarily occupied by russia, up to the internationally recognized borders of 1991, as the only scenario for the future.
Reznikov said that in the course of the slow offensive launched by the russians 6 months ago, the losses of the enemy equal 500 killed and wounded every day. The head of the Ministry of Defense refused to talk about Ukrainian losses but assured that "it is much less than the losses of the russians."
Despite the critical situation, Reznikov believes that the war can end with this year's victory
"I am an optimist, I see the situation on the battlefield, I see the development of support and I really see that there is a chance that this war will end with our victory this year. I seriously think about it, I know a lot, and it gives me optimism. An optimist is an informed realist." the minister said.
Commenting on the threat of russia using tactical nuclear weapons, Reznikov called it a "bluff" and said the kremlin had received a clear message from China and India that it was unacceptable. Besides, "using nuclear weapons will not give them what they want," he added.
In January, Germany gave permission for the transfer of Leopard main battle tanks to Ukraine and their re-export by other states. The tanks from Germany should be delivered in the last week of March. As for the planes, the Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz, and other politicians say that there is no discussion about it. It should be noted that Germany does not have such aircraft in service that Kyiv would like to receive.
