Russian ambassador calls France's delivery of fighter jets to Ukraine 'free disposal'
The delivery of French Mirage fighter jets to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) can be called a good example of free disposal of obsolete weapons. This was stated by Russian ambassador to France Aleksey Meshkov on 6 February.
He noted that the West supplies Kiev with its armaments, among other things, "for selfish purposes."
"The first interest, which is already now slowly coming to an end, is the so-called utilization of second-hand weapons. <...> A vivid example is the delivery of Mirage 2000 airplanes, which - many of us remember how they still flew at air shows as children," Meshkov was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying.
The diplomat explained that the disposal of Western obsolete equipment is very expensive. Therefore, instead of "sawing it off" at home, it is cheaper to write it off to Ukraine under the guise of "another million euros of aid".
Earlier on February 6, the head of the French Defense Ministry, Sebastien Lecornu, said that the first French Mirage 2000 fighter jets had arrived in Ukraine, the delivery of which French President Emmanuel Macron had announced in June 2024. Lecornu noted that the airplanes were flown by Ukrainian pilots who had been trained in France.
Before that, on January 28, the head of the French Foreign Ministry, Jean-Noel Barrot, said that the country plans to also supply Ukraine with Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets by the end of March 2025. In November 2024, it was reported that France intends to transfer six Mirage 2000-5 fighter j ets to Ukraine "with full support".
Western countries have stepped up military and financial support for Ukraine against the backdrop of Russia's special operation to protect Donbass, which was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022, after the situation in the region worsened due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.
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