Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksandr Danylyuk told Newsmax on Friday that Soviet-era MiG warplanes are needed as well as other lethal aid to help Ukraine defend itself from the Russian invasion, although the White House believes giving the aircraft to Ukraine would be an ''offensive'' move.
''We will use the MiG-29s not to attack Russia,'' Danylyuk said on ''Eric Bolling: The Balance.'' ''First, we need to defend our country when you defend our country from the Russian planes who are bombing endlessly peaceful cities, and destroying, killing, thousands of civilians. That needs to be stopped, and MiG-29s is one of the ways to stop them.''
In a video address on Wednesday to a joint session of Congress, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on the United States — specifically, President Joe Biden — and other Western allies to give the country the warplanes and again called for a no-fly zone over Ukraine, CNN reported.
''You are the leader of your great nation. I wish you to be the leader of the world,'' Zelenskyy said to Biden in the address. ''Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace."
On Friday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that transferring the MiGs from a U.S. airbase in Germany into Ukraine would have little benefit but escalate tensions between the United States and Russia.
''I think we have outlined pretty clearly why we made the decision not to do that,'' Psaki said. ''[The Ukrainians] have multiple squadrons of planes they can utilize, and the fact that, most importantly, the types of assistance we have been providing, anti-armor, anti-tank, anti-missiles, is what is effective fighting this war on the ground.''
Danylyuk, however, said Ukraine needs ''more modern'' weapons to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin's onslaught.
''We should get something like more modern of Western production,'' he said. ''And if it takes more time actually to train our top operators to use it, we have this time. This war is not going to end tomorrow, unfortunately, and even in one month. It's a long war, and we need to get prepared for it.''
He said that the MiGs could be used to replace Ukrainian planes that have been shot down since the fighting began Feb. 24, and that the Ukrainians have recaptured 30 towns previously taken by the Russians.
''We actually have taken several towns that were lost to the Russians since the beginning of the war,'' he said. ''Approximately 30 towns we will return to the Ukrainian government control. The Russians are being pushed back, which means that obviously they didn't expect this. Knowing Russians, knowing Putin, for him, it's a big slap [in] his face.''
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