Germany's Scholz rules out sending fighter jets to Ukraine after agreeing to supply tanks

Paying no heed to mounting pressure, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz retraced his steps and ruled out providing fighter jets to Ukraine, just days after he announced supplying military tanks to the war-torn nation. According to the BBC, Scholz rejected Ukraine’s plea to its allies to form a "fighter jet coalition.”

In a conversation with German newspaper Tagesspiegel, the Chancellor said that his key focus remains to supply Leopard 2 tanks, while also warning that quickly hopping to another big decision “seems frivolous.” "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.

He also clarified that NATO was not at war with Russia, adding that "we will not allow such an escalation.” During the interview, Scholz also revealed that he remains in constant touch with Russian President Vladimir Putin and they held a phone conversation in December 2022.

"We need to talk to each other," he said, clarifying that Russia’s hostilities against Ukraine were unacceptable. On the other hand, the United States said on Thursday that it will be "very carefully" considering the idea to supply fighter jets. Last week, Germany announced that it would supply 14 of its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine after weeks of pressure from the West. Soon after, the United States followed suit and said that it will be providing M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. 

Ukraine calls for more weapons to repel Russia's attacks

The West ramping up its efforts to support Ukraine comes after Ukrainian deputy foreign minister Andrii Melnyk suggested the formation of a "fighter jet coalition" that would help supply Kyiv with French Rafales, Eurofighters, US F-16s and F-35s, Tornados, and Swedish Gripen jets.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak also said that the war-torn nation requires missiles "to drastically reduce the Russian army's key weapon.” Earlier on January 26, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy justified Ukraine’s need for more weapons by stating that “every Russian missile against our [Ukrainian] cities, every Iranian drone used by terrorists is an argument why we need more weapons. Only weapons neutralize terrorists."