‘Mission completed'; warplanes on the way: Ukraine minister

Ukraine’s allies will agree to provide fighter aircraft to battle Russian forces, Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said, despite recent comments by Western leaders that warplanes would not be forthcoming.

Reznikov also told a news conference on Sunday that Moscow will launch a major offensive in the coming weeks, but Ukraine has the soldiers and resources to repel such an attack.

Ukraine’s military will halt the operation despite tanks and other weapon systems from the West not arriving in time, he said.

“There will be planes, too,” the defence minister predicted. “The question is just what kind exactly … Consider that this mission is already completed.”

So far Ukraine has won support from Baltic nations and Poland in its quest to obtain Western fighter jets. But several Western leaders have expressed concern that providing warplanes could provoke the Kremlin and draw their countries deeper into the conflict, which has cost tens of thousands of lives and wreaked massive destruction.

Kyiv says such jets are essential to challenging Russia’s air superiority and ensuring success in a Russian offensive that Reznikov predicted could begin around the war’s one-year anniversary, February 24.

“Not all Western weapons will arrive by then, but we have the resources and reserves to help stabilise and sustain the offensive,” Reznikov told reporters.

Since the war began, Western officials have balked at some of Ukraine’s requests, such as for longer-range missiles and tanks, only to agree later. The warplanes are the latest example.