It is a visit with symbolic power: Ukrainian President Zelenskyj is a guest at the G7 summit in Hiroshima today. In the luggage: the demand for fighter jets of Western design. The US has pledged to train Ukrainian pilots.
After the stopover in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, Volodymyr Zelenskyj actually traveled to Hiroshima in person. This gives the debate about the possible delivery of Western-style fighter jets, such as the US F-16, a whole new dynamic. Chancellor Olaf Scholz had already declared before the decision became public:
“We have once again assured here that we will give Ukraine the necessary support for as long as it is necessary – with humanitarian means, with financial means, but also with arms deliveries,” said Scholz.
US wants to train Ukrainian pilots
In the future, deliveries of weapons could also include F-16s or other Western-style fighter jets, so far Ukraine has only flown Eastern-style jets. US officials have heard that President Joe Biden has informed the G7 in Hiroshima that it will support the training of Ukrainian pilots on the F-16 aircraft. The delivery of the aircraft will be decided later.
Selenskyj should still be pleased about the commitment from the USA, as he had been pushing for further arms deliveries for some time. In any case, the Ukrainian President tweeted that he welcomed the historic decision by the United States and counted on discussing its practical implementation at the Hiroshima meeting.
No fighter jets from Germany
Germany still refuses to participate in the delivery of fighter jets. SPD General Secretary Lars Klingbeil has reaffirmed this. “Everyone has different military skills. The fighter jets are not one of them for us,” he told the “Rheinische Post”. Chancellor Scholz’s statement “applies here,” he added. Germany is concentrating “on training, tanks and missile defense”. Ukraine is pushing for the delivery of Western-style fighter jets. So far, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Belgium, Denmark, Portugal and France have participated in the “fighter jet alliance”.