The plan was announced by a British government spokesman on Tuesday evening. In addition, Kiev is to be supported in training. During visits to Italy, Germany, France and Great Britain in the past few days, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has solicited extensive new military aid and support for the establishment of a “fighter jet coalition”. After a meeting with Sunak on Monday, Zelenskyj was already optimistic about this.
So far, the NATO countries – above all the USA – have not wanted to meet Kiev’s demand for modern western combat aircraft. Sunak and Rutte now want to work to “build an international coalition to provide Ukraine with fighter jet capabilities and support them with everything from training to procurement of F-16 jets,” the London government spokesman said. In Reykjavik, Sunak also reiterated his conviction that “Ukraine’s rightful place is in NATO.” “A good start for the coalition! Thank you all!” Zelenskyy said in his evening video message.
Tricky terrain
Ukraine has been demanding the delivery of modern fighter jets for months, but so far this has fallen on deaf ears. Above all, US President Joe Biden ruled out such a delivery of US fighter jets. There are fears that Russia could interpret this as NATO meddling in the war and continue the spiral of escalation.
There were several threats from the Kremlin. In fact, the technical modalities, such as how and where the handover or delivery takes place, would also be politically sensitive. So far only Poland has delivered fighter jets to Ukraine, some Soviet-built MiG-29s. The country promised Kiev – like Slovakia – to make more planes available.
Council of Europe wants to hold Russia accountable
The real issue at the Iceland summit is to hold Russia accountable for the attack on Ukraine. The go-ahead for setting up a damage register for the Ukraine war is to be decided on Wednesday. It should record all the damage caused by Russia in Ukraine, according to the draft of the summit declaration. The register is intended to be the first step on the way to possible compensation payments.
In his speech at the summit, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz demanded that Russia pay for the damage caused in Ukraine during the war. French President Emmanuel Macron and Sunak made similar statements. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said it could make Russian soldiers shy away from new war crimes in Ukraine if there was a chance they would be held accountable.
Impetus for coming to terms with the war
Scholz, Sunak and Macron described the damage register as a central element in coming to terms with the Ukraine war. “The register is the prerequisite for being able to work with common data,” said Scholz about the amount of damage. It forms the basis for the following international talks. It is unclear, however, whether confiscated Russian assets abroad can be used to pay reparations.
Zelenskyj appealed in a video link that the European states should supply his country with more air defense systems and fighter jets. He called it “historic” that Ukraine on Tuesday repelled all missiles fired by Russia at Ukrainian cities. However, Russia claims that it was able to destroy a Patriot air defense position.
Further support for Ukraine
At a round table and dinner afterwards, the heads of state and government wanted to work out “how the Council of Europe can actively support Ukraine as part of the European family,” according to French government circles. Macron also called on the Council of Europe to help set up 100 psychiatric centers in Ukraine to treat war trauma. Macron said he proposed that the Council of Europe’s development bank should support the establishment of these centers “as soon as possible”.
First summit in almost 20 years
On Tuesday, around 30 European heads of state and government traveled to Reykjavik, Iceland, for the first Council of Europe summit in almost 20 years, including Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen. The Federal President will give a speech on Wednesday. The organization of states, which also includes the European Court of Human Rights, sees itself as the guardian of values and human rights in Europe.
The judgments of the Court are binding on the member states. The conventions on issues such as equal rights and refugees form the legal foundation of Europe’s values. Russia was expelled in 2022 after the attack on Ukraine, Belarus was suspended. “The Council of Europe is more important today than it has ever been,” said Scholz.
Low liabilities
However, Scholz and Macron warned the 46 members that they themselves had to fulfill all their obligations without any compromises. This includes consistently implementing all judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, it said, with reference to Turkey in particular. Under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, this has not implemented a number of judgments by the court belonging to the Council of Europe.
Governments should see defeats in court as a “human rights gain.” There are also discussions with Great Britain because the government wants to continue deporting migrants to Rwanda, which the court objected to. In his speech, Sunak called for an intensified fight against illegal migration.
