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French President Emmanuel Macron has committed to delivering Mirage 2000s to help Ukraine “protect its soil and airspace”, with Ukrainian pilots expected to commence training imminently.
During the announcement on French broadcaster TF1, Macron pledged to deliver an unspecified number of the Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets to Ukraine and train Ukrainian pilots.
It is expected that France will train 4,500 Ukrainian military personnel to operate the aircraft, with the delivery in collaboration with other Mirage user nations.
“We are going to launch a new cooperation and announce the delivery of Mirage 2000-5, which are French combat aircraft which will allow Ukraine to protect its soil and its airspace.
“Starting tomorrow, we are going to launch a program to train pilots and transfer these planes which will allow by the end of the year, France will speak for itself tomorrow, but above all, we are building a coalition of partners.”
The French President this week followed the US and partner nations in relaxing longstanding rules prohibiting the use of weaponry on legitimate military targets inside Russian territory, which were instituted in a bid to stop the war from escalating.
“We support the Ukrainians. We allow Ukraine to strike targets from which rockets were launched. We prohibit hitting civilians with our weapons,” Macron said according to RBC Ukraine.
The comments came as the Netherlands’ Defence Minister Kajsa Ollongren approved the use of 24 Dutch F-16s against targets in Russia during the Shangri-La Dialogue.
Liam Garman
Editor – Defence and Security, Momentum Media
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