As soon as the decision of the USA and Germany ended the discussion about sending Western tanks to Ukraine, the debate about sending another deadly military equipment - modern fighter planes - was renewed.
Those talks are at an early stage and there are a number of obstacles before the possible sending of fighter jets to Ukraine, above all the reluctance of some key countries for fear of an escalation of the war. However, the West has so far overcome a number of taboos when it comes to sending weapons to Ukraine, the world media reports, Radio Free Europe reports.
An adviser to Ukraine's defense minister, Yuri Sak, told Reuters on January 25 that Kiev would seek Western fourth-generation fighter jets, such as the US F-16, after securing deliveries of battle tanks.
Ukraine has a fleet of old Soviet-era fighter jets that ceased production before Kiev declared independence more than 31 years ago, Reuters reports, saying Ukraine uses them to intercept and attack Russian positions.
Western arms support is vital to Kiev and has evolved rapidly during the war. Until the invasion, even the idea of delivering lethal weapons to Ukraine was highly controversial, but since then, deliveries from the West have broken taboo after taboo, according to Reuters.
While there have been no notable developments on fighter jets, a Ukrainian pilot told Reuters last month that many of his air force colleagues were taking English classes in their spare time in anticipation of Kiev one day receiving foreign aircraft such as the F-16 fighter jet.
In addition to military planners in Kiev turning their attention to what they say is the logical next step in their effort to repel Russian forces, conversations with Western military officials and diplomats confirm that an internal debate is already underway about supplying Ukraine with fighter jets, writes Politiko.
That debate, however, is likely to be even slower than discussions about sending tanks, the portal estimates, indicating that several European officials and diplomats have said that their governments no longer consider the idea impossible, but that fears of escalation are still high.
One of the diplomats said that Washington had told Kiev that sending the planes was off, but added: "There is a red line there. However, last summer we had a red line on the HIMARS, and it was moved. Then it was battle tanks , and it moves".
A representative of a European power also pointed to the speed with which the supply of Western weapons to Ukraine is expanding. "Hunters are completely unimaginable today, but we could have this discussion in two, three weeks".
Defense ministers of Ukraine's allies are due to hold a new summit next month at the US military base in Ramstein, Germany. Last Sunday, there was a discussion about sending tanks to Ukraine, and now, as Politiko reports, it is expected that aviation and air support will be in focus.
Some officials believe that the Ramstein discussion will focus more on developing a plan in case the fighter jets are urgently needed at some point, rather than reaching an agreement on imminent deliveries.
European diplomats agree that the West will first want to exhaust all other options for air support, including more attack drones and long-range missiles. Washington also recently approved a shipment of Cold War-era unguided missiles that the Ukrainian military could launch from its MiGs.
Diplomats also point to recent US decisions as evidence that Washington is preparing to discuss the planes. In July, the US House of Representatives approved $100 million to train Ukrainian pilots to fly US fighter jets, and in October, Ukraine announced that a group of several dozen pilots had been selected for training on Western fighter jets.
Although the US and German decisions to send tanks to Ukraine have reignited discussions about sending fighter jets, European defense officials warn that the debate is still in its early stages, the Financial Times reports.
Frank St. John, the chief operating officer of Lockheed Martin, the largest US defense equipment manufacturer, told the Financial Times that there had been "a lot of talk about transferring F-16s from third parties" - some countries would send their US planes to Ukraine.
Although Lockheed is not directly involved in discussions regarding the potential delivery of military aircraft to Kiev, St. John said the company will increase production of the F-16 to be able to fill gaps in the fleets of countries that decide to send the planes to Ukraine.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, after Berlin approved the sending of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, again rejected the sending of aircraft to Ukraine.
On the other hand, Dutch Foreign Minister Vopke Hoekstra said last Sunday that the Netherlands will "open-mindedly" consider requests to send F-16s and that there are "no taboos" when it comes to military support for Ukraine. The Netherlands has about 40 F-16 aircraft and is in the process of gradually replacing them with the more advanced F-35.
The re-export of F-16 aircraft from European Union countries directly to Ukraine is only one option, European officials said, pointing out that American-made aircraft could be sent by Western countries to the countries of the former Warsaw Pact, which would send their Soviet aircraft to Kiev.
In addition to the fact that the discussion about sending the aircraft is at an early stage and mostly within governments or between several capitals, it is also an extremely sensitive topic, especially since the US has previously rejected the idea, the Financial Times points out in another article.
The idea is currently supported by some of Ukraine's European allies who believe that in order to end the war in Ukraine, Kiev should be given all the weapons it needs to liberate all of its territory.
In practice, however, there are huge obstacles, the newspaper points out.
First, Ukraine claims that since Russia invaded, any weapons are defensive. However, fighter jets that can engage targets in Russia put enormous pressure on that argument.
Secondly, there is the issue of delivery. Unlike the delivery of military equipment by trucks, pilots of NATO members cannot replace Ukrainian pilots while flying across the border with Poland.
However, the most important thing is that the whole enterprise could depend on one man in Washington.
The White House, according to the British newspaper, is rejecting Ukrainian requests for modern fighter jets out of fear that they could be used to attack Russian territory. US authorities must approve sales, or transfers from third countries, of US-made fighter jets.
This means that European countries need the support of President Joseph Biden's administration to send American planes.
Biden has changed his stance on tanks and Ukraine hopes there are more lines to be crossed, the Financial Times points out.
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