Live: Ukrainian defence minister visits Paris as Kyiv pushes for fighter jets

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Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov is expected to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron during a visit to Paris on Tuesday amid a debate among Kyiv’s allies over whether to provide fighter jets for its war against Russia. While France has not ruled it out, US President Joe Biden has said Washington will not provide Ukraine F-16 jets. Follow FRANCE 24’s live coverage of today’s developments on the war in Ukraine. All times are in Paris time (GMT+1).

7:29am: Kyiv’s allies differ over supplying fighter jets

Ukraine’s defence minister is expected in Paris on Tuesday to meet with French officials amid a debate among Kyiv’s allies over whether to provide fighter jets for its war against Russia, after US President Joe Biden ruled out supplying Ukraine with F-16 jets.

Ukraine planned to push for Western fourth-generation fighters like F-16s after securing supplies of main battle tanks last week, an adviser to Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said on Friday.

France and Poland appear to be willing to entertain such a request from Ukraine, with French President Emmanuel Macron telling reporters in The Hague on Monday that “by definition, nothing is excluded” when it comes to military assistance.

But Macron set out a series of “criteria” before making any decision, as Ukraine steps up calls for more advanced weapons from the West just days after its allies pledged to deliver tanks. These included that Ukraine must first make the request, that any arms would “not be escalatory” and that they would “not be likely to hit Russian soil but purely to aid the resistance effort”. Macron added that any arms delivery “must not weaken the capacity of the French armed forces”.

6:07am: Human Rights Watch urges Ukraine to investigate antipersonnel mine use 

Advocacy group Human Rights Watch called on Ukraine on Tuesday to investigate accusations that its military used thousands of rocket-fired antipersonnel landmines in and around the eastern city of Izium when Russian forces occupied the area.

Human Rights Watch noted that it had also issued three reports last year accusing Russian forces of using antipersonnel mines in multiple areas across Ukraine since they invaded the country on Feb. 24, 2022.

10:17pm: Biden says ‘no’ to US sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine

President Joe Biden said Monday he will not be sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine to help its war against Russian invaders.

“No,” he said when asked by reporters at the White House if he was in favour of sending the jets, which Ukraine’s leaders have said are at the top of their latest weapons wish list.

© France Médias Monde graphic studio

(FRANCE 24 WITH AFP, AP AND REUTERS)

 

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