Ukraine in talks on delivery of Gripen, Eurofighter jets – head of MoD

Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said this on the national television, when asked whether there are chances to get more F-16 jets, Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"Now, we have a commitment from the partners to deliver F-16, also they are giving us a commitment to deliver Mirages, we are discussing commitments concerning Gripens, which will be followed by Eurofighters. That is, this is a very good list of platforms. And we are discussing when they will start supplies. Soon we will have the results that will be announced. I hope we will inform you later," said Umerov.

According to him, within this framework, the Ukrainian authorities will work to build up air defense capabilities.

"We have explained to them (partners - ed.) our needs, we have explained how crucial this issue is for us," Umerov informed.

The minister noted that Russia uses up to 300 warplanes and the same number of helicopters.

"That's why we are explaining to our partners how many brigades and planes we need. In this regard, we are also explaining to them which platforms we need. In this context, we worked last year to focus on pilot training, on getting platforms, on building up all the necessary infrastructure," said the MoD head.

According to him, this year Ukraine will focus on how to increase the number of fighter jets which will be enough to have an advantage over the enemy in the air.

"These processes have already been established, but they need scaling up. And we are working at this now. We already have solutions and we are working to implement them together with our partners," the minister said.

As reported, in June, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that they will deliver Mirage fighter jets to Ukraine and train Ukrainian pilots in France. He refused to name the exact number of planes.