President Emmanuel Macron declared on Thursday that as part of a new military partnership with Kyiv in its struggle against the Russian invasion, France will train Ukrainian pilots and provide fighter jets to Ukraine.
“Tomorrow we will launch a new cooperation and announce the transfer of Mirage 2000-5” fighter jets to Ukraine made by French manufacturer Dassault and train their Ukrainian pilots in France, Macron told French TV.
Macron said he would offer Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky when the two meet for talks at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Friday that the pilots be trained from this summer.
“You need normally between five-six months. So by the end of the year there will be pilots. The pilots will be trained in France,” he said.
How many of the fighter jets would be supplied was not stated by him. The defense ministry declined to comment when AFP contacted them.
Macron stated that as Ukraine attempted to mobilize tens of thousands more soldiers to go to battle, it was confronting a “huge challenge” in terms of soldier training.
He declared that upon their return from training, a brigade of 4,500 Ukrainian soldiers will be fully equipped and trained by France to defend themselves.
Kyiv has been pushing Europe to increase its military support, with Russia in recent months gaining the upper hand on the battlefield.
Zelensky’s visit to France, where on Thursday he attended ceremonies for the 80th anniversary of D-Day and crossed paths with US President Joe Biden, is seen as a crucial time to drum up more help.
Macron said Ukraine has asked its Western allies to send military instructors to train its forces on its soil to meet the growing challenge to build up troop numbers.
“The Ukrainian president and his minister of defence asked all the allies 48 hours ago in an official letter saying ‘we need you to train us quicker and that you do this on our soil’,” Macron said.
Even after his Friday talks with Zelensky, there was conjecture that Macron may quickly announce the deployment of French instructors to Ukraine.
However, he emphasized that he did not think any such actions by Paris were “escalatory” and that France and its allies would get together and make a decision.
“We are working with our partners and we will act on the basis of a collective decision,” he stated.
