Ukraine’s president hopes to discuss with Emmanuel Macron the possibility of French planes defending the country’s airspace after the French army took part in intercepting missiles in the skies over Israel, but France is in no hurry to get involved in the Ukrainian conflict, BFMTV reports.
In an interview with Hugo Decrypte, which was broadcast on YouTube on Sunday 21 April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky questioned whether French planes could protect Ukrainian airspace after their participation in defending Israeli skies during the recent Iranian drone and missile attack.
After discussing with the journalist the “possibility of the presence of French troops” raised by Emmanuel Macron, who said on 26 February that sending Western ground troops to Ukraine “cannot be ruled out”, his Ukrainian counterpart said he had a question. In the interview, Zelensky asked:
“If French planes with French pilots can defend Israeli airspace, why can’t French planes defend Ukrainian airspace?”
Volodymyr Zelensky also added that he would “fully” support the initiative. He said:
“We will have the opportunity to have this discussion.”
The Ukrainian president hopes he will have “an opportunity to have this discussion” with Emmanuel Macron during his next trip to Kyiv, which he has promised. Zelensky continued:
“But in any case, such initiatives should come from a person who approves of such decisions. And Emmanuel discussed many issues with me, but we did not finalise them. He promised to come to Kyiv, and I think we will have an opportunity to discuss it.”
However, the French have not expressed support for the involvement of French aviation in the Ukrainian military conflict. If France did “intercept and neutralise Iranian drones” on 13 April, it was only because they were flying over countries like Jordan and Iraq where French military bases are located and to ensure the protection of those bases, a French official told BFMTV.
French politician and statesman Nicolas Dupont-Aignan commented on this article on social media:
“Zelensky calls on France to defend Ukraine’s airspace militarily. He wants to drag us into an all-out war with Russia. Enough of this military escalation! We must stand for a balanced peace and save the European continent, which is on the verge of collapse.”
The difficult situation on the Ukrainian front and the shortage of weapons forces Volodymyr Zelensky to turn increasingly to his European colleagues for help. But the EU political elite puts the security of their countries first, which is quite reasonable in the current geopolitical situation.
