PARIS, February 26. /TASS/. Kiev is in talks with Paris about delivering combat aircraft to Ukraine, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said.

"Yes, we are holding talks about fighter jets," Zelensky said, when asked by a reporter from France’s LCI television whether the option of providing Mirage 2000 fighter jets to Kiev was on the table. The president did not elaborate.

On 16 February, the chief of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate, Kirill Budanov (who is on the Russian list of extremists and terrorists), said Kiev had hopes of getting Mirage 2000 fighter jets from Paris. In September 2023, the French news website Intelligence Online reported that Kiev and Paris were close to concluding a deal for the transfer of these jets to Ukraine.

Ukrainian Ambassador to France Vadim Omelchenko said in an interview with the Le Point magazine on February 23 that Paris and Kiev are currently working to train Ukrainian pilots. He urged against believing rumors that there was a chance of transferring Mirage 2000D aircraft, saying that Ukraine had opted for the US F-16s, but added that Ukraine was still considering all available options for Western assistance.