By Ben Kerrigan-
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak provided an indecisive response when he said “nothing is off the table” after Volodymyr Zelensky urged the UK to supply Ukraine with fighter jets in a powerful salesman’s speech.
His comments follow the visit of the Ukrainian president, who was visiting the UK for the first time since Russia’s invasion , but Sunak made no promise.
Zelinsky used his persuasive speech as a springboard for his salesmanship to other European countries where he plans to make a similar request for fighter jet planes. The Ukranian leader has already been provided with enormous support from Britain and NATO countries to resist the evil Russian intrusion, but Zelensky’s plea makes it clear he finds the massive support to be insufficient.
He wants more support, leaving each country to determine at what expense that support can or will come, and against what considerations it must be balanced.
When asked in the presence of Zelensky at a military site in Dorset to provide absolute clarity on whether Ukraine will receive the requested fighting jets, and if so, when, he responded:
“We’ve been very clear and we’ve been clear for a long time that when it comes to the provision of military assistance to Ukraine, nothing is off the table,” Mr Sunak said.
“When it comes to fighter combat aircraft of course they are part of the conversation.”
Mr Zelensky and Mr Sunak arrived by helicopter at Lulworth Camp on the latest leg of the Ukraine leader’s visit in which he gave an impressive salesman’s speech.
Earlier, Mr Zelenszky was granted an audience with the King Charles III at Buckingham Palace.
The King said: “We’ve all been worried about you and thinking about your country for so long, I can’t tell you.”
The audience followed Mr Zelensky’s address to Parliament, where he put on a performance in urging the UK and the West to provide fighter jets as he told his audience: “Combat aircraft for Ukraine, wings for freedom.”
Mr Zelensky began his speech by thanking Britain on behalf of his country’s “war heroes”.
Zelensky gave a strong speech when he addressed a huge crowd of MPs and peers in the historic setting of Westminster Hall, sparking a series of applauds as he said freedom will win and Russia will loose. He hailed the union between the Uk and Ukraine and made reference to unity between United Kingdom , stating that any aggressor against the Ukranian people will loose.
The UK said is to start training Ukrainian forces to fly Nato-standard jets.
Downing Street said Defence Secretary Ben Wallace is investigating what aircraft the UK could potentially offer, but emphasised this was “a long-term solution” and that training pilots could take years.
“Freedom will win – we know Russia will lose,” he told the audience, adding the UK was with his country on a march to “the most important victory of our lifetime”.
Thanking the UK for its “grit”, he said the country, through its support of Ukraine, had not compromised the “spirit and ideals of these great islands”.
Highlighting Boris Johnson for praise, Zelensky said the former prime minister had united others “when it seemed impossible”.
The Ukrainian leader presented House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle with the helmet of a Ukrainian pilot.
The writing on the helmet reads: “We have freedom, give us wings to protect it.”
Reflecting on his last visit to the UK, in 2020, he recalled thanking his hosts “for delicious English tea”.
“I will be leaving Parliament today, thanking you all in advance for powerful English planes.”
Mr Johnson echoed his calls in a statement saying: “It is time to give the Ukrainians the extra equipment they need to defeat Putin and to restore peace to Ukraine. That means longer range missiles and artillery, it means more tanks, it means planes.”
The PM has now ordered the defence secretary to examine ways that the UK can provide Ukraine with fighter jets.
The RAF has a limited number of aircraft it could theoretically provide Ukraine – including about 20 older Typhoon jets.
How practical it will be for the Uk to provide those jets is another question.
The RAF is already facing a backlog in the training of its own fast jet pilots, maintenance and upkeep of older aircraft is also more difficult.
The prime minister has admitted that if Britain does supply fast jets, it will be for the longer term not the near future
Zelensky’s visit comes on a day that an international investigating team comprising five countries concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to supply the missile that downed flight MH17 in 2014, international investigators say.
The BUK-TELAR missile system was used to shoot down the passenger plane on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, the Joint Investigation Team of six countries probing the crash said.
All 298 passengers and crew were killed when the missile slammed into the plane and brought it crashing back down to earth. Russia has denied all involvement and branded the conclusion of the investigations scandalous.
However, Zelensky is determined to maximise the appeal he can garner through speeches across Europe.