American F-16 fighter jets (archive image): "We will discuss this very carefully"
Photo: REUTERS/ USAF
The US does not rule out the delivery of fighter jets to Ukraine.
That said the deputy national security advisor to US President Joe Biden, Jon Finer, on Thursday (local time) on the US television channel MSNBC.
When asked if the US is considering supplying fighter jets, Finer said it hadn't ruled out any particular weapon system.
Support will be tailored to what Ukraine needs.
"We will discuss this very carefully," Finer said, referring to inquiries from Ukraine.
Previously, the former Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk, had called for modern fighter jets to defend against the Russian war of aggression.
The allies should set up a strong fighter jet coalition, with US F-16s and F-35s, Eurofighters and Tornados, French Rafales and Swedish Gripen jets.
Melnyk is now Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine.
According to media reports that agreed with the Dutch parliament, Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said last week that the topic was open and that there were no taboos.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) ruled out the delivery of fighter jets after the promise of Leopard 2 main battle tanks on Wednesday.
Zelenskyy: "Every Russian missile is an argument for more weapons"
The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj did not explicitly name combat aircraft, but confirmed his country's need for further arms deliveries in addition to the battle tanks that have now been promised.
“Russian aggression can only be stopped with adequate weapons.
The terrorist state will not understand it any other way," said Zelenskyj in his evening video speech on Thursday.
The most recent wave of Russian attacks a few hours earlier had shown this again, he stressed.
"Every Russian missile against our cities, every Iranian drone used by the terrorists is an argument for more weapons."
UN nuclear supervisor: "Eight strong detonations"
The United Nations nuclear regulatory agency on Thursday reported several powerful explosions near Russia-occupied Ukraine's Zaporizhia nuclear power plant and again called for a containment zone around the plant.
"Eight strong detonations were heard around 10 a.m. local time yesterday and there were more today," IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said in a statement.
According to the Russian news agency TASS, Rosenergoatom, the operator of the Russian nuclear power plants, called Grossi's statements unfounded and a provocation.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees: "Be ready"
According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, given the increasing pressure from the Russian army in eastern Ukraine, Europe must once again prepare for more refugees from the war-torn country.
"Every intensification of the war means the risk of new refugee movements," the head of the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) told the AFP news agency in Kyiv on Thursday.
"We must prepare for this."
"Every time the fighting intensifies, of course people want to get to safety," said Grandi.
This was also the case when the fighting around Mariupol and Cherson intensified.
In view of the current developments in eastern Ukraine, the UNHCR chief appealed to the government in Kyiv and also to neighboring countries: "Be ready, prepare for all eventualities."
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that Russia had increased military pressure in the battle for the town of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region.
Moscow sends a large number of soldiers and a lot of military equipment and weapons into battle.
The Ukrainian troops have already had to withdraw from the previously fiercely contested town of Soledar, which is about 15 kilometers north-east of Bakhmut.