European countries want US President Donald Trump to deploy American fighter jets in Romania as part of US security guarantees for Ukraine.
Source: The Times
Details: Senior European military officials are discussing the deployment of US F-35 fighter jets to Romania, where NATO is building its largest air base in Europe, in order to deter another Russian invasion.
The issue was raised at a meeting between General Dan Caine, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, and military representatives from the UK, Germany, France, Finland and Italy to discuss US security guarantees.
At present, NATO is conducting air policing missions over the Black Sea from the Mihail Kogălniceanu air base in Romania, which served as a hub for US forces during the Iraq war and is the most likely location for stationing American aircraft.
In addition to American fighter jets based in Romania, European countries want guarantees over continued use of US satellites for GPS and intelligence support in Ukraine.
Europe also wants the US to commit to supplying Ukraine with Patriot and NASAMS air defence missiles and granting permission for reconnaissance aircraft to operate over the Black Sea.
British Rivet Joint aircraft have been conducting reconnaissance missions since the first days of the full-scale war, but the Boeing-built planes require US approval for flights.
Background:
As part of the Coalition of the Willing, the United Kingdom has proposed deploying Typhoon fighters in Ukraine’s west and sending a brigade of 3,000-5,000 troops to train Ukrainian soldiers. France, Canada and Australia may also send troops to Ukraine’s west.Russia, however, opposes the deployment of any Western troops. On Wednesday 20 August, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow and Beijing should be given veto power over Western military support for Ukraine, describing NATO talks on security guarantees as “a road to nowhere”.Trump said that Washington might provide air support to Ukraine as part of a potential peace agreement with Russia.On 18 August, Trump, after a conversation with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, announced that he was beginning preparations for a meeting between the Ukrainian and Russian leaders.
Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
From Ukrainska Pravda via this RSS feed