French President Emmanuel Macron warned on Friday that even if Ukraine's European allies decide to send Kyiv fighter jets they could not be sent in "the coming weeks".
"I'm not ruling anything out ... but that doesn't correspond to today's requirements," Macron indicated after an EU summit in Brussels attended by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Macron’s remarks came as Ukraine's allies are nervous that deploying advanced Western fighter jets would provoke a further escalation by Russia and risk open conflict between NATO and Moscow.
The French president and the other EU leaders in Brussels lauded Zelenskyy as a hero and vowed to stand by Ukraine until victory -- but they were cautious on his quest for fighter jets.
"It is essential the allies favour the most useful equipment" and "the fastest", Macron argued, citing the Caesar guns and the MAMBA medium-range surface-to-air defence system supplied by France.
He added that it may be necessary to accelerate the delivery of artillery pieces and munitions to allow Ukraine to launch or resist ground offensives, promising to "work on it in the coming days".
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