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Germany doesn’t have capabilities to be in coalition to supply jets to Kiev — minister

"We can’t play an active role in this alliance, this coalition because we don’t have training capabilities, expertise or planes," German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius Sean Gallup/Getty Images
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius
© Sean Gallup/Getty Images

BERLIN, May 17. /TASS/. Germany doesn’t have the planes and other capabilities required to be part of a coalition for the supply of fighter jets to Ukraine, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on Wednesday.

"We can’t play an active role in this alliance, this coalition because we don’t have training capabilities, expertise or planes," he said at a joint news conference with his UK counterpart Ben Wallace in Berlin.

During the Council of Europe summit in Reykjavik this week, the UK announced that it was working with the Netherlands to establish an international coalition to help Ukraine get F-16 fighter jets from its allies. Berlin, Washington, and London had previously refused to supply their own fighter jets to Kiev.