JAKARTA - President Emmanuel Macron told French TV on Thursday that his government plans to provide Mirage 2000 fighter jets to Ukraine.
He said that his government would announce the plan to provide the fighter jets to Ukraine when President Volodymyr Zelensky visits France on Friday, reported by Reuters on June 7.
However, President Macron did not mention clearly how many and when the fighter jets would be provided.
"Tomorrow (today, ed.) we will launch a new cooperation and announce the transfer of Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets to Ukraine made by the French manufacturer Dassault and train their Ukrainian pilots in France," he said in an interview after the 80th D-Day commemoration in Normandy, reported The Kyiv Independent.
In addition, President Macron also said that France had proposed to train 4,500 Ukrainian soldiers. He did not say where the soldiers would be trained, but he said there were currently no French military trainers on Ukrainian soil.
Previously, President Zelensky in September last year said he had reached an agreement to train Ukrainian pilots in France in a conversation with President Macron.
The head of the Ukrainian Air Force said in January that the presence of French Mirage fighter jets could strengthen the Ukrainian air force.
The Dassault Mirage 2000 fighter jet is a single-engine, multi-role fighter that can carry a variety of air-to-surface and air-to-air missiles and weapons, including laser-guided bombs.
The 2000-5 version has improved radar systems and can carry fuel tanks, greatly increasing its range.
This is a fourth-generation fighter jet, meaning it is in the same class as the US-made F-16, which allies have promised to Ukraine.
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Denmark, the Netherlands, and the US have led an international coalition formed last year to provide Kyiv with F-16 fighter jets and train Ukrainian pilots.
The Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, and Belgium have pledged to supply Ukraine with dozens of F-16 fighter jets. The delivery is expected this fall, after Denmark began transferring similar aircraft.
The Netherlands has previously pledged to deliver 24 US-made fourth-generation jets to Ukraine as Kyiv seeks to bolster its air force.
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