Volodymyr Zelensky, traveling to the European Parliament, asks for fighter jets

Will Volodymyr Zelensky get the fighter planes he wants from European leaders? The family photo of Thursday February 9, it goes down in history: that of the 27 in Brussels (Belgium) with the Ukrainian president. During his European mini-tour, the latter kept making the same request. “We need artillery guns, shells, modern tanks, long-range missiles, modern combat aircraft”he said in particular in Brussels.

No promise for fighter jets

The Ukrainian army has around fifty MiG-29, Soviet planes dating from the 1970s. It has lost at least a third of them. Providing it with more sophisticated devices could be a game-changer. “The air relieves the troops on the ground. It allows for example to blow up bunkers, to blow up defenses”, specifies Xavier Tytelman, consultant in aeronautics and defense. Westerners are reluctant to provide planes. They fear in particular a risk of escalation in the conflict.