Ukraine Seeks More Warplanes, Tanks As War Intensifies

France is sending Ukraine an additional 12 Caesar self-propelled howitzers that could fire artillery rounds capable of targeting two tanks with one shot as well as extended-range rockets to hit Russian tanks, Deutsche Welle reported.

Photo Insert: The US will not be sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.

French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said the latest weapons shipment would raise the number of Caesar self-propelled howitzers in Ukraine to 30. Lecornu said the artillery pieces will be funded by the €200 million ($217 million) fund set up by Paris to provide arms for Kyiv, the Associated Press (AP) also reported.

Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany Oleksii Makeiev told Deutsche Welle that there was no official request from Kyiv to Berlin to provide fighter jets from Germany, despite some voices in Kyiv calling for warplanes.

Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki also indicated that he was not averse to the idea of providing fighter aircraft to Ukraine but did say any transfer would need to be done "in complete coordination" with NATO member states, Reuters also reported.

The US will not be sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said that Kyiv would receive between 120 and 140 main battle tanks in the "first wave" of deliveries.

"The tank coalition now has 12 members. I can note that in the first wave of contributions, the Ukrainian armed forces will receive between 120 and 140 Western-model tanks," Kuleba said in a briefing.

The minister said that there were continued efforts to secure more tanks. "We continue to work on both expanding the membership of the tank coalition and increasing the contributions of those already pledged," Kuleba said.

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