Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny personally asked the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the French Armed Forces Thierry Burchard to send F-16 fighters.
Burkhard, who is visiting Ukraine for the first time, met with the head of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at a meeting where they discussed the situation at the front and the needs of the Ukrainian army in repelling Russian troops.
In a message from Zaluzhny during the meeting, the Ukrainian commander-in-chief mentioned the need to be able to rely on artillery shells and other ammunition, air defense systems and F-16 fighters.
“France agreed to continue cooperation and dialogue in the future. For its part, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are ready to share with the allies the experience of waging a large-scale war,” Zaluzhny said.
Having obtained from Germany the unblocking of deliveries of Leopard tanks to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Kyiv has prioritized fighter jets to try to convince the allies to refuse to accept this request.