Ukraine may be waiting for some time for the jet firepower it wants

Some of Nato’s European members may feel safer letting America take the lead when it comes to sending military jets to Ukraine, writes Kim Sengupta

Ukraine’s President Zelensky took his plea for jets to the EU on Thursday

(Getty)

Volodymyr Zelensky’s European tour has been about requests for attack jets as the war nears its first year anniversary. But it is likely to be a while before Ukraine gets the air power it wants.

While Britain has offered to train Ukrainian pilots, and France, among other countries, has also expressed interest in doing so, there is prolonged discussion and debate about just what kind of warplanes can be supplied and when that takes place.

There was excitement and a sense of celebration at a Westminster Hall packed with MPs on Wednesday with the Ukrainian president “thanking in advance for powerful English planes” and presenting speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle with the helmet of a Ukrainian pilot inscribed: “We have freedom. Give us wings to protect it.”