Germany unable to be part of coalition to supply Ukraine with fighter jets

BERLIN - Germany insists it lacks the military capabilities to contribute to a British-backed initiative to supply fighter jets to Ukraine to meet Kiev's desperate request for access to air forces in the war against Russia.German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius admitted on Wednesday that his country does not have the training capacity or the right military equipment to be part of the UK-led Western effort to secure modern warplanes for Ukraine.

"We cannot play an active role in such an alliance, in such a coalition, because we have neither the training capacities, the skills nor the aircraft," he said in the capital Berlin at a joint press conference with his British counterpart Ben Wallace. Pistorius' comments came just days after Britain announced during a summit of European leaders in Reykjavik, Iceland, that it was working with the Netherlands to form what it called an international "fighter jet coalition" to help Ukraine in the... to help procure F-16 fighter jets.

Ukrainian officials have put the US-made fighter jet high on their wish list for access to advanced jet fighters. Great Britain, Germany and the USA have so far refused to supply Kiev with their own combat aircraft. Ukraine is reportedly keen to strike a deal to procure Sweden's Gripen fighter jets as well. "It's up to the White House to decide if they want to release this technology," Wallace said, adding that London will support in any way it can any nation that wants to supply Ukraine, whose fighter jets are mostly Soviet-era come.

“What is really important here is to send a signal to Russia that we as nations have no philosophical objection in principle to providing Ukraine with the capabilities it needs depending on what is happening on the battlefield,” the UK defense secretary claimed.Pistorius tried to take a line similar to Wallace's, insisting it "is up to the White House to decide whether the F-16 fighters can be delivered." France and Belgium have also offered to help train Ukrainian pilots on modern fighter jets. Washington has so far ruled out supplying Kiev with F-16 fighter jets, arguing that the move is impractical due to training requirements and the possibility that the jets could be shot down by Russian air defense systems.

Despite repeated requests, no Western-designed fighter jets have been delivered to Kiev.Elsewhere in his remarks, Pistorius further emphasized that Germany would continue to support Ukraine's war effort by focusing on its areas of expertise, such as tanks and air defense.On Saturday, Berlin announced plans to ship a huge €2.7 billion arms package to Ukraine to further fuel the US-led war effort against Russia.The Berlin armaments package for Kiev includes 20 Marder infantry fighting vehicles, 30 Leopard 1 tanks, 15 Gepard anti-aircraft tanks, 200 reconnaissance drones, four additional Iris-T anti-aircraft systems including ammunition, additional artillery ammunition and more than 200 armored battle tanks and battle tanks logistics vehicles.

Earlier this month, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned that Germany was becoming increasingly involved in the Ukraine war because of the enormous amount of armaments that Berlin had offered to Kiev.Russia began a so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine on February 24, 2022 as part of a national security measure against the ongoing eastward advance of the US-led NATO military alliance and to protect the Russian-speaking population of eastern Ukraine against hostile efforts by Kiev.Since then, the US and most European Union member countries have supplied Ukraine with tens of billions of dollars worth of weapons, including missile systems, drones, armored vehicles, as well as tanks and communications systems, despite Russia's repeated warnings that Western military aid will only end the war will extend. Along with the United States, Germany was one of the largest arms suppliers for the Ukrainian military.