France will send Mirage fighter jets to Ukraine, Macron says

CAEN, France  — President Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday that France would send Mirage 2000 fighter jets to Ukraine, in what would appear to be a significant increase in his country’s direct military support to Kyiv.

“Tomorrow we will launch a new cooperation and announce the transfer of Mirage 2000 [jets], which help Ukraine protect its skies,” Macron said during an interview with broadcaster TF1 in the northern city of Caen, coinciding with the start of an official visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The French president also said Ukrainians would receive training in France for five to six months as early as this summer, with a target of training 4,500 service personnel.

“We’ve always had the same philosophy, we help the Ukrainians to fight,” he said.

France had until now stopped short of donating fighter jets to Ukraine, arguing that Kyiv needs to focus on obtaining and training on F-16s, which are more common than the Mirages made by the French arms manufacturer Dassault.

The Ukrainian president is in France to take part in the 80th anniversary of the D-Day commemorations which gathered veterans and world leaders from allied nations on the `Normandy beaches. U.S. President Joe Biden and Macron both drew comparisons between the fight against Nazism in World War II and the Ukraine’s fight against the Russian invasion today.

The French president also said Ukrainians would receive training in France. | Win McNamee/Getty Images

On Friday, Zelenskyy will meet French defense manufacturers, address France’s National Assembly and hold talks with the French president.

During the interview, Macron also confirmed that a French national had been arrested in Russia on suspicions on espionage.