Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a press conference at a military facility in Lulworth, UK, February 8, 2023.
London – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed today that he will meet with the leaders of the European Union on Thursday. At a press conference with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, he said he wanted to discuss with them the supply of weapons, including long-range missiles and fighter jets, AFP reported. Regarding the issue of providing fighter jets, Sunak said that “nothing is out of the question”.
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Photo gallery: President Zelensky's visit to Europe
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The statements came at the end of Zelensky's unannounced visit to Britain, from where the Ukrainian president is heading to an evening meeting in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Since the beginning of the week, there has been speculation that he will visit Brussels on Thursday, where an extraordinary summit of EU countries is being held.
At today's press conference, Zelenskyj did not specify what his Thursday program would be. According to AFP, he told reporters that he will talk with EU officials about the military aid that he believes Ukraine needs.
During his visit to Britain, the issue of donating fighter jets came to the fore, which Zelenskyy raised in an afternoon speech in the British Parliament. . A few days ago, London expressed the opinion that the provision of British fighters to Ukraine would be impractical, since training pilots on them takes at least three years. But now Sunak's spokesman said that the British government will examine possible further steps in this regard, which the Prime Minister subsequently confirmed. announced that we will train the Ukrainian Air Force according to NATO standards,” Sunaka was quoted as saying by the BBC. According to the prime minister, Britain makes it clear that “as far as providing military aid to Ukraine is concerned, nothing is out of the question”. “We will send you pilots who have been training for two and a half years,” he said.
