Source: AFP
France will transfer Mirage-2000 fighter jets to Ukraine and train its Ukrainian pilots as part of a new military partnership with Kiev as it fights a Russian invasion, President Emmanuel Macron announced on Thursday.
“Tomorrow we will start a new partnership and announce the transfer of Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets” to Ukraine made by the French manufacturer Dassault and train their Ukrainian pilots in France, Macron said on French television.
Macron said he would offer Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky when the two meet for talks at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Friday to train the pilots from this summer.
“You normally need between five and six months. So by the end of the year there will be pilots. The pilots will be trained in France,” he said.
He did not specify how many of the fighter jets would be delivered. Contacted by AFP, the defense ministry did not provide further details.
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Macron said Ukraine faced a “huge challenge” in training soldiers as it sought to mobilize tens of thousands more troops to the front.
He said France will equip and train an entire brigade of 4,500 Ukrainian soldiers so they can defend themselves when they return to Ukraine from training.
Kiev is pushing Europe to increase its military support, with Russia gaining the upper hand on the battlefield in recent months.
Zelensky’s visit to France, where on Thursday he attended ceremonies marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day and crossed paths with US President Joe Biden, is seen as a critical moment to find more help.
Macron said Ukraine had asked its Western allies to send military instructors to train its forces on its soil to meet the growing challenge of building up troop numbers.
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![](https://images.yen.com.gh/images/46b6ad5bc040c73f.jpg?impolicy=cropped-image&imwidth=256)
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“The president of Ukraine and his defense minister asked all allies — 48 hours ago in an official letter — saying ‘we need you to train us faster and do this on our soil,'” Macron said.
There had been speculation that Macron could quickly announce the sending of French trainers to Ukraine, even after his talks with Zelensky on Friday.
However, he said France and its allies would come together and decide and also stressed that he did not believe such moves from Paris were “escalating”.
“We are working with our partners and will act based on a collective decision,” he said.
Source: AFP