Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sought Western support for his country in surprise visits to Britain and France on Wednesday, pushing for fighter jets to battle Russian invaders in a dramatic speech to the U.K. Parliament, and then flying to Paris to meet the French and German leaders over dinner at the Elysee Palace.
On Thursday, Zelenskyy will join European Union leaders at a summit in Brussels, which German Chancellor Olaf Sholz described as a “signal of European solidarity and community.”
Zelenskyy’s European tour and pleas for more advanced weapons comes as Ukraine braces for an expected Russian offensive and hatches its own plans to retake land held by Moscow’s forces.
Western support has been key to Kyiv’s surprisingly stiff defence, and the two sides are engaged in grinding battles.
Zelenskyy thanked the British people for their support since “Day One” of Moscow’s invasion nearly a year ago, as British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said fighter jets were “part of the conversation” about aid to Ukraine.
WATCH l Zelenskyy makes renewed pitch for fighter jets:
During U.K. visit, Zelenskyy appeals for fighter jets
Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelenskyy, using a Ukrainian pilot’s helmet as a symbol, appealed to Britain to supply ‘wings for freedom’ in the form of fighter jets to help in its war with Russia.
“Nothing is off the table,” he said at an evening news conference at a British army base. “We must arm Ukraine in the short term, but we must bolster Ukraine for the long term.”
Zelenskyy said Ukraine needs all kinds of supplies, not just planes, but also ammunition and long-range missiles.
“Without this, there would be stagnation which will not bring to anything good,” he said, calling his visit to Britain “very fruitful.”
2nd wartime trip abroad
Then it was off to Paris for dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron and Scholz, the German chancellor.
Zelenskyy was greeted Wednesday night on the steps of the Elysee Palace with a friendly embrace by Macron, and then all three leaders headed inside.
The visit marks a turnaround in Zelenskyy’s relations toward France and Germany, which earlier in the war were viewed by many in Ukraine as not doing enough to help.
“Ukraine can count on France, its European partners and allies to win the war. Russia cannot and must not win,” Macron said before their working dinner. Macron’s office put out a statement confirming that Zelenskyy would attend Thursday’s summit in Brussels, where EU leaders will pledge their support for the Ukrainian people.
Zelenskyy’s travel to European capitals on Wednesday was just his second foreign trip since Russia invaded on Feb, 24, 2022, after a December visit to Washington.
His day began when he arrived on a Royal Air Force plane in London and was greeted on the tarmac with an embrace from Sunak.
They held talks at the prime minister’s 10 Downing Street residence before Zelenskyy’s speech to lawmakers in the 900-year-old Westminster Hall, the oldest — and, on a cold winter day, unheated — part of Parliament.
“London has stood with Kyiv since Day One,” he said, repeatedly thanking Britons for their aid. The U.K. has sent Ukraine more than 2 billion pounds ($3.2 billion Cdn) in weapons and equipment.
Wearing his trademark olive green sweatshirt, he urged allies to deliver jets to Ukraine, saying combat aircraft would be “wings for freedom.”
‘Give us wings’
In a dramatic gesture, Zelenskyy presented the speaker of the House of Commons with a Ukrainian air force helmet, inscribed by a Ukrainian pilot: “We have freedom. Give us wings to protect it.”
The Ukrainian president is trying to soften allies’ reluctance to send advanced fighter jets, both because they are complex to fly and for fear of escalating the war.
The U.K. has repeatedly said it’s not practical to provide the Ukrainian military with British warplanes. But in a shift, the government said Wednesday it was “actively looking” at whether Ukraine could be sent Western jets, and was “in discussion with our allies” about it.
Britain also said it would train Ukrainian pilots in Britain on “NATO-standard fighter jets” within weeks.
Sunak spokesman Max Blain said the government was exploring “what jets we may be able to give” over the coming years, but had not made a decision on whether to send its F-35 or Typhoons.
“We think it is right to provide both short-term equipment … that can help win the war now, but also look to the medium to long term to make sure Ukraine has every possible capacity it requires,” he said.
Ukraine has sought Western fighter jets since early in the war to bolster its force of Soviet-made MiG-29 and Su fighters. The success of its air force in defending its skies and territory despite Russia’s bigger numbers helped push back Moscow’s initial assault.
The Russian Embassy in London strongly warned the U.K. against supplying warplanes to Ukraine, saying Britain would bear responsibility “for another twist of escalation and the ensuing military-political consequences for the European continent and the entire world.”
Macron has said France hasn’t ruled out sending fighter jets but set conditions, including not leading to an escalation of tensions or using the aircraft “to touch Russian soil,” and not resulting in weakening “the capacities of the French army.”
Sunak and Zelenskyy flew by helicopter to Lulworth Camp, a base in southwest England, where they met Ukrainian troops being trained on the Challenger 2 tanks the U.K. is sending as part of the hundreds that Kyiv says it needs.
More than 10,000 Ukrainian troops have been trained in the U.K., and Britain says it will train 20,000 more in 2023.
“I am proud that today we will expand that training from soldiers to marines and fighter jet pilots, ensuring Ukraine has a military able to defend its interests well into the future,” Sunak said.
Zelenskyy also went to Buckingham Palace, where he met with King Charles, who greeted him with a broad smile and a warm handshake before they had tea. The king told the president that “we’ve all been worried about you and thinking about your country for so long.”
In his Parliament speech, Zelenskyy noted that the British monarch was a qualified military pilot.
“The king is an air force pilot,” Zekenskyy said, and “in Ukraine today, every air force pilot is a king.”
Zelenskyy was greeted with applause, cheers and cries of “Slava Ukraini” — “Glory to Ukraine” — as he arrived in the U.K. Parliament, where his cause has wide support.
He had addressed Parliament remotely last year, two weeks after the start of the invasion, where he echoed British leader Winston Churchill’s famous “never surrender” speech during the Second World War.
On Wednesday, he recalled how on a pre-war visit to London, he sat on Churchill’s chair in his subterranean wartime headquarters, and had a feeling that he only now understood.
“It was the feeling of how bravery takes you through the most unimaginable hardships to finally reward you with victory,” Zelenskyy said.
In past wars, “evil lost,” he told U.K. lawmakers. “We know Russia will lose and we we know victory will change the world.″
