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Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged support for a coalition to help provide Ukraine with a fleet of Western-made fighter jets, although he stopped short during a surprise UK visit by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of promising actual aircraft.
Sunak told Zelenskiy on Monday that he was “very keen to build that coalition of countries to give Volodymyr and his people the aircraft support that they need.†The UK prime minister also committed to giving Ukraine more attack drones and air-defense systems during unannounced talks at his Chequers countryside retreat north of London.
“We want to create this jets coalition and I’m very positive with it,†Zelenskiy said after the meeting. “And I see that in the closest time you will hear I think some very important decisions. But we have to work a little bit more on it.â€
Sunak’s spokesman, Max Blain, told reporters that there were “no plans†to send British Typhoon or F-35 jets to Ukraine because Kyiv had decided to use F-16s, which the UK doesn’t own.
While Ukraine has been seeking more advanced fighter jets since the first days of Russia’s invasion of the country last year, Western governments have resisted the requests over concerns about the risk of escalating tensions with Moscow. There are also practical concerns about the time would take to make sure Kyiv had the trained pilots, weapons and maintenance capabilities needed to operate them effectively against Russian planes.
The UK will confirm the transfer of hundreds of air-defense missiles and further unmanned aerial systems including new attack drones with a range in excess of 200 kilometres to Ukraine, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement. Last week, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said the UK was providing the country with Storm Shadow cruise missiles, the longest-range offensive weapons yet provided to Ukraine by Western allies.
Public support for Ukraine remains strong in the UK, which has been the country’s second-largest contributor of military aid after the US.