Amid Russian invasion, Ukraine to get fighter jets from European Union

The Russian forces have begun their invasion of Ukraine, and the armed forces of the latter are greatly outnumbered as compared to Russia. As Ukraine defends itself against the attacks launched by Russia, the European Union has come to the rescue.

European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borell has said that the EU countries will be sending fighter jets to Ukraine at Kyiv's request to help it counter the Russian air and land assault amid the current invasion, according to the news agency AFP.

During the press conference, AFP quoted Borell as saying, “We're going to provide even fighting jets. We're not talking about just ammunition. We are providing more important arms to go to a war.”

This comes soon after Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told the European Union that the country was in need of some fighter jets that their armed forces could operate.

Borell said that Kuleba has requested the EU to provide “the kind of fighting jets that the Ukrainian army is able to operate... some member states have these kinds of planes.”

This comes a few days after Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the nuclear weapons in Russia are currently on “high alert” after the Western countries are taking “unfriendly” steps against the country during its invasion of Ukraine. This statement came on Thursday, a few days after the invasion had begun.

The United States has condemned this statement by Putin, saying that the move by the president is “unnecessary and escalatory.” Senior defence officials from the United States said that this could lead to further escalations of the tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine began last week, after which President Vladimir Putin had also issued a warning to the countries of the West, asking them not to intervene in the conflict. Russia currently owns the second-largest arsenal of nuclear weapons, behind the US.

(With inputs from agencies)