Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Monday rejected President Volodymyr Zelenskyi’s request to supply Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine, saying that his country cannot do without the ones it has, Ukrainian Pravda reports.
“Sweden is a geographically large country, we must defend ourselves. We are not in NATO yet,” said the Swedish Prime Minister.
Speaking about the military equipment his country has already given to the Ukrainian military, including CV90 armored vehicles, Kristersson said it was part of a “balancing game between what we can share with them and what we have to have ourselves.”
Zelenskyy asked the Swedish government to approve the supply of Gripen jets to his country during a visit to Sweden on Saturday, his first official trip to the Nordic country since the start of the Russian invasion.
“Today we discussed in detail further steps regarding the possibility of opening the topic of receiving Swedish Gripen aircraft,” Zelenskyy said at a joint press briefing with Kristersson on Saturday.
He added that the topic would be at the center of his discussions with other Swedish officials. In June, the Swedish government said it would give Ukrainian pilots the opportunity to test Saab’s Gripen fighter jet, but also stressed that all of its planes are needed to defend the country’s territory.
On Saturday, Zelenskyi also announced that Ukrainian pilots have already started training on airplanes.
Sweden also says “No” F-16 for Ukraine
In his comments on Monday, Ulf Kristersson also recalled that Sweden is part of a coalition that aims to provide Ukraine with F-16 aircraft, to achieve which we are working with 14 countries to ensure Ukraine’s aviation capabilities.
At the end of last week, Denmark and the Netherlands jointly announced that they would transfer such fighters to Ukraine, but Sweden, according to its prime minister, cannot do this.
“We are not in such a position. We will do everything possible to support them in the air, but currently there are no new commitments regarding the supply of Swedish aircraft to Ukraine,” he emphasized.
Sweden has helped Ukraine in its military operations by supplying weapons such as tanks, anti-aircraft systems and Type 90 armored infantry fighting vehicles.
Sweden’s Defense Minister Pal Jonsson said last Tuesday that his government is preparing a new $313.5 million military support package for Ukraine, consisting mostly of ammunition and spare parts for previously delivered weapons systems.
This package will be the 13th that Sweden has provided to Ukraine since the beginning of the war, bringing the total amount of aid provided by the Scandinavian country to 1.8 billion dollars.
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Source: Hot News
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