Berlin, Jan 29 (IANS) Days after agreeing to send tanks to Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz ruled out sending fighter jets, while underlining that NATO is not at with Russia, media reports said on Sunday.
Scholz said his focus was on the delivery of German-made Leopard 2 tanks.
“The fact we’ve only just made a decision (on sending tanks) and the next debate is firing up in Germany, that just seems frivolous,” he said in an interview with German newspaper Tagesspiegel, the BBC reported.
In wake of pressure from other allies, Germany agreed to supply 14 tanks to Ukraine, and the US said it would provide its M1 Abrams tanks.
On the other hand, Ukraine has asked NATO allied nations to create a “fighter jet coalition” to bolster their capabilities and the US said it would discuss the idea “very carefully”.
Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Ninister, Andrii Melnyk, sought a “fighter jet coalition” that would provide Ukraine with US F-16s and F-35s, Eurofighters, Tornados, French Rafales and Swedish Gripen jets.
However, Scholz, in the interview, reiterated that Nato was not at war with Russia, and “we will not allow such an escalation”.
He also said that he was in touch with Russian President Vladimir Putin, with their last conversation having been held last month.
“We need to talk to each other,” he said, but added that he was firmly against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
–IANS
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