Trudeau says Canada does not have fighter jets suitable for Ukraine

Canada cannot urgently hand over fighter jets to Ukraine for defense against Russia because it does not have in its arsenal the equipment that the Ukrainian military are familiar with.

"The Ukrainian military has trained up on Soviet-style MiGs and fighter jets that Canada simply does not have," PM of Canada Justin Trudeau said at a press conference when asked about the possibility of providing combat aircraft to Ukraine.

He also did not support the idea of closing the skies over Ukraine by NATO forces. "The thing that we have so far avoided, and will continue to need to avoid, is a situation in which NATO's forces are in direct conflict with Russian soldiers. That [no-fly zone over Ukraine] would be a level of escalation that is unfortunate," Trudeau said.

At the same time, he stressed that the international community would continue to impose punishing consequences on Putin and his cronies in the Kremlin and on the Russian people “until they understand just how terrible a mistake Putin has just made.”

As reported, NATO adopted a decision not to close the sky over Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky said that by refusing to take such a step, NATO leaders gave Russian troops green light to continue bombing the Ukrainian territory.

On February 24, Russian president Putin declared war on Ukraine and launched a large-scale invasion. Russian troops are killing civilians, shelling and destroying key infrastructure. Missiles hit Ukrainians' homes.

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