A new step taken in the commitment of the France alongside the Ukrainian army. This Monday evening, during an interview with the 20 hours of TF 1, Emmanuel Macron, who received his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky yesterday, announced that the France would train Ukrainian fighter pilots.
"We have opened the door to train Ukrainian pilots in France, with other European countries, with the Americans," said the President of the Republic, without specifying the modalities of this training which can begin "now". Asked about the delivery of French fighter jets, he repeated that "the France [would] not deliver planes."
In a joint statement at the end of their working dinner Sunday evening, Emmanuel Macron and Volodymyr Zelensky had announced that they aimed to train, in 2023, 2,000 Ukrainians in France and nearly 4,000 in Poland, where the tricolor army has deployed more than 200 soldiers for this. Two months ago, Ukrainian soldiers completed their training in the handling of light armored vehicles, provided by the France, at the military base of Canjuers (Var).
Mirage 2000s recently withdrawn from service
Earlier in the day, Rishi Sunak, the British prime minister, also promised Zelensky that the training of Ukrainian pilots would begin "relatively soon". "We want to create a coalition for aircraft and I am very optimistic about it, it will happen very soon," Zelensky said after his meeting.
The Ukrainian leader, who would have lost sixty aircraft, has been asking for months to his Western allies to provide him with such planes that would allow the Ukrainian army to strike deep Russian troops. Regarding the Ukrainian demand for fighter jets, "the question is a little premature," said an adviser to President Macron, recalling that it was first necessary to train pilots, a long and complex process.
The French Air Force has thirteen Mirage 2000s recently withdrawn from service and which could be reconditioned and made combat-ready again. Between 30 and 40 Ukrainian pilots, according to people familiar with the matter, are experienced enough and speak English well enough to be trained in these aircraft within NATO.