Macron doesn’t rule anything out: Biden says “no” to fighter jet delivery

Macron is not ruling anything out
Biden says ‘no’ to fighter jet delivery

01/30/2023, 11:31 pm

So far, the US government has said support for Ukraine is based on its needs and that no weapons system has been ruled out in principle. However, when asked about F-16 fighter jets, President Biden now draws a red line. French President Macron, on the other hand, considers the delivery of fighter jets fundamentally feasible.

US President Joe Biden has canceled the delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. Asked by reporters if he supported providing fighter jets to Ukraine, Biden responded “no” in Washington. Not long ago, French President Emmanuel Macron did not rule out the delivery of fighter jets to Ukraine. “Fundamentally, nothing is off limits,” Macron said during a visit to The Hague. At the same time, he warned of the risk of escalation and named a number of “criteria” that must be met for the provision of French fighter jets.

Macron said Kiev must first make an official “request” before delivering the fighter jets. Ukraine “has never done this”. In addition, the weapons “must not increase” and “must not touch Russian soil, but only support the self-defense capability”. Any arms supply “must not weaken the capacity of the French armed forces”.

“Not a hurdle, but a giant step”

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte agreed to Macron’s criteria for fighter jet delivery. For his part, he stressed, “There is no obstacle, but it will be a big step.” Rutte said that the Netherlands had not even received a request from Kiev.

In an interview last week, Biden’s deputy national security adviser, Joan Finer, did not categorically rule out the delivery of F-16 jets. In principle, the US will not rule out any “specific system”, but will continue to examine what weapons Ukraine needs in its war against Russia. President Olaf Scholes has repeatedly ruled out the delivery of fighter jets to Kiev and warned of a “continuing bidding war” in the arms supply debate.

The Ukrainian leadership is currently pushing for the delivery of fighter jets to its Western allies. Andriy Melnyk, former Ukrainian ambassador to Germany and now Ukraine’s deputy foreign minister, said allies should build a strong alliance of fighter jets such as US F-16s and F-35s, Eurofighters and Tornados, French Rafales and Swedish Gripen jets.