Ukraine war in Newsblog | NATO Secretary General: Must continue to talk about fighter jets

Day 421 since the beginning of the war: A Russian bomb hits the border town of Belgorod. Defense Minister Pistorius is opposed to Ukraine joining NATO quickly. All information in the blog.

12:18 p.m.: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has spoken out in favor of continuing talks about handing over Western fighter jets to Ukraine. Deliveries by allies must be discussed further, Stoltenberg said on Friday at the sidelines of a meeting of the international contact group for the coordination of military aid to Ukraine at the US air base in Ramstein.

Stoltenberg made it clear that he considers the discussion about further arms deliveries to be much more important in the current situation than plans for Ukraine to join NATO. “Now the main thing is that Ukraine wins,” said Stoltenberg, referring to the Russian war of aggression. “Because if Ukraine doesn’t assert itself as a sovereign, independent nation in Europe, then there’s no point in discussing membership.”

So far, Ukraine has only received Soviet-designed Mig-29 fighter jets from Poland and Slovakia from the West. At what is now the eleventh meeting of the group in Ramstein, the participating countries want to coordinate further military aid for Ukraine. It is also a question of whether the previous arms deliveries are sufficient for the spring offensive planned by Kiev.

Kiev has long been demanding the delivery of modern fighter jets and long-range weapons. In Ramstein, however, the main focus will probably be on procurement of ammunition and air defense.

9.45 a.m.: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accepted an invitation to the NATO summit in Vilnius in July. That’s what NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says before the so-called Ramstein meeting with NATO allies, at which further military aid for Ukraine is to be discussed. Stoltenberg says he spoke to Zelenskyy in Kiev on Thursday about the summit in the Lithuanian capital and further support for Ukraine.

8.45 a.m.: According to security expert Claudia Major, Ukraine’s expected spring offensive in the war against Russia will be decisive for further Western support. “If it succeeds and Ukraine can show that it can liberate territory, then it will be easier for Western countries to explain why this very cost-intensive support is worth it,” said the head of the Security Policy research group at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP). in the ZDF morning magazine.

In the morning, the defense ministers of the so-called Ukraine Contact Group will meet at the US Ramstein Air Force Base in Rhineland-Palatinate. They want to take stock of the country’s military support. It is also a question of whether the previous arms deliveries are sufficient for the spring offensive planned by Kiev.

2.55 a.m.: According to a media report, the Bundeswehr wants to end its missions with the Patriot air defense system to protect the NATO partner states Poland and Slovakia this year.

“The missions must be constantly questioned and evaluated,” said the chair of the defense committee in the Bundestag, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (FDP), the newspapers of the Funke media group, according to a preliminary report. “If the situation allows it, it makes sense to change the situation. We need the flexibility because we don’t have infinite equipment.”

According to the preliminary report, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense said that the mission in Poland should end in June and the mission in Slovakia at the end of the year. The partner countries have been informed about the plans.