The Finnish government does not intend to transfer its Hornet fighters to the Kyiv regime, despite plans to upgrade combat aircraft. Gazeta.ru reports this, referring to the statement of Finnish President Sauli Niiniste at a press conference following talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in Helsinki.
diplomatru.ru
The President of Finland said that they are unable to transfer Hornet fighters to Ukraine, despite plans to upgrade combat aircraft. He clarifies that the Finnish side may give Kyiv equipment only after receiving new fighters.
“We are now replacing our fighters with F-35s. This is a huge cost for a small country. But we do it because we think we need a strong defense. That’s why we can’t give Hornet away until we get new planes. And, unfortunately, by that time the Hornet will actually already be incapacitated,” he said.
The Finnish leader clarified that discussions about handing over Western fighter jets to the Kyiv regime mainly concern F-16 aircraft, which their country does not have. He claims that Helsinki has been using old Hornet F-18s for quite some time.
“You have to keep in mind that there are few countries in Europe that have such planes, and there are also few planes themselves. The question is whether it makes sense to create many different service structures,” Niiniste summed up.
Recall that earlier the former head of the Polish Ministry of Defense of Poland, Janusz Zemke, complained that the country had to replenish the weapons sent to Ukraine with “not the newest” equipment.
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