Macron: France to transfer Mirage 2000 fighter jets to Ukraine

French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Thursday that France will transfer Mirage 2000 fighter jets to Ukraine and train Ukrainian pilots on them as part of a new military cooperation with Kyiv, which is fighting the Russian invasion.

Macron told French television, "Tomorrow we will launch a new cooperation and announce the transfer of Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets to Ukraine, made by the French company Dassault."

He added that he would offer Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, when they meet for talks at the Élysée Palace in Paris on Friday, to start training Ukrainian pilots this summer.

He continued, "It usually takes between five and six months. So, by the end of the year, there will be pilots. The pilots will be trained in France."

He did not specify the number of fighter jets to be delivered. The French Ministry of Defense also did not provide any details when contacted by Agence France-Presse.

Macron said that Ukraine faces a "great challenge" in training soldiers while seeking to mobilize tens of thousands of additional troops on the front, indicating that France will equip and train an entire brigade of 4,500 Ukrainian soldiers.

AFP