Sweden pledges more military aid to Ukraine, considers fighter jets
World
Sweden pledges more military aid to Ukraine, considers fighter jets
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden will send Ukraine a new military support package worth 2.2 billion crowns ($199 million) - consisting mainly of artillery ammunition - and is looking into sending fighter jets, Defence Minister Pal Jonson said.
Jonson told a news conference the armed forces were due to report by Nov. 6 on the potential for sending Jas Gripen jets to Ukraine after the government asked them to assess the issue.
But he reiterated that Sweden would for domestic security reasons need to become member of NATO before it would be able to potentially spare any fighter jets.
Sweden hopes to join the NATO defence alliance soon although its accession has been held up by member states Turkey and Hungary.
The new military aid package will be Sweden's 14th to Ukraine since Russia's invasion, taking the total value of the Nordic country's such aid to just over 22 billion crowns.
"We need to design our support so that it's long term and sustainable," Jonson said. "It is now important that more countries step up to support Ukraine."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday warned European leaders at an informal meeting in Granada, Spain that Russia could attack other countries within five years if Europe were to waver in its support.
He also said he remained confident of continued U.S. and European financial aid, however.
