President Joe Biden has said the U. S. will supply F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine as Kyiv expands the list of weapons it wants to drive Russian forces out of occupied territories.
Fighting continued at key points along the long front as Russian forces sought to expand their control over territory in Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
Kremlin-appointed Donetsk chief Denis Pushilin claimed Russian forces were advancing near Vugledar, a strategically valuable city southwest of the city of Donetsk.
“Now we can say that the ensembles have established positions in the east of Vugledar, and paintings are also being made in the surroundings,” Pushilin said, according to Russian news agencies.
But Kyiv rejected that claim, while admitting the fight there was tough.
“There are constant attempts to break through our defense,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday. “The enemy array. . . maintains maximum attack intensity. “
Last week, Western countries, the United States and Germany, approved the delivery of heavy tanks to Ukraine.
The move builds on an earlier position that tanks were noted to be going too far in Ukraine and could threaten an increasingly violent reaction from Russia.
But Biden gave the impression Monday of drawing the line on the origin of U. S. fighter jets to Ukraine.
“No,” he replied when asked by White House reporters if he favored sending F-16s or others.
Brazil “has no interest”
But European leaders have said they are open to the idea, although Ukraine has yet to officially request complex fighter jets from its allies for war.
Analysts say Ukraine and Russia are preparing for major offensive moves in the coming months and that Western jets can simply increase Kyiv’s strength, with their own air force significantly depleted during 11 months of war.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday he had ruled out delivering fighter jets to Ukraine but warned of the threat of an escalation of the conflict.
Macron has held talks with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who has already raised the possibility of sending Dutch F-16s to Ukraine.
“Nothing is excluded on principle,” Macron said.
Any delivery of weapons “must not weaken the capacity of the French armed forces,” he said, adding that France must be convinced that the weapons will not be used to attack internal Russia, which could aggravate the war.
“There is no taboo, but it would be a step,” Rutte said.
In South America, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Brazil has “no interest in sending munitions to Ukraine” in a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the first Western leader to meet with the leftist prime minister since taking office.
“Brazil is a country out of peace. . . My suggestion is that we create an organization of countries to sit at the table with Ukraine and Russia to try to achieve peace,” Lula said.
He added that he had discussed the concept with Macron and would discuss it with Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping on long-term planned visits.
Lula caused a stir last year when he claimed Zelensky was “as guilty as” Russian President Vladimir Putin in the conflict.
He now said he believed Russia “made the classic mistake of invading the country’s territory,” but maintained its non-compromise stance.
“If you don’t get involved, then the two (sides) may not fight,” Lula said.
Artillery shells
With Ukraine’s artillery ammunition stocks severely depleted, France and Australia on Monday announced an agreement to produce 155mm shells for Kyiv’s forces.
“Several thousand 155mm shells will be manufactured together,” French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said.
“There are roles in Australia and synergies that can be achieved through Australia and France working together,” said his Australian counterpart, Richard Marles.
Meanwhile, in Seoul, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called on South Korea to “step up” the military for Ukraine, suggesting it reconsider its policy of not exporting weapons to countries in conflict.
There is an “urgent need for more ammunition,” Stoltenberg said.
It is “extremely that President Putin does not win this war,” he stressed.
Tehran summoned a Ukrainian diplomat on Monday to protest comments made through an aide to Zelensky following unattributed moves over the weekend that targeted an Iranian defense industry in Isfahan that allegedly produced drones.
While no link can be drawn between the weekend movements and Ukraine, Mykhailo Podoliak tweeted about the “explosive night in Iran,” pointing to the site’s production of drones and missiles and oil refineries.
“Ukraine warned them,” he said.
Iran has drones attacking Russia for use off Ukraine.
Ukraine’s chargé d’affaires in Tehran was ordered to provide “an official and prompt explanation” for the comments he described as “strange and biased,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry said.