Ukraine hopes to “throw Russia from the skies” in 2024, the country’s foreign minister has said, as he outlined Kyiv’s priorities for what will be the third year of Moscow’s full-scale invasion.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday, Dmytro Kuleba called for patience among Ukraine's key Western backers and insisted that with the right support, Ukraine could be victorious.
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“In 2024, of course the priority is to throw Russia from the skies. Because the one who controls the skies will define when and how the war will end,” he said.
Kyiv has long called on the West to deliver advanced fighter jets to support its troops entrenched in the south and east of the country.
The war has ground to a stalemate over the last year, as Ukraine's long-awaited counter-offensive failed to punch through Russian defences last year.
“We are fighting a powerful enemy, a very big enemy that doesn't sleep. It takes time,” Kuleba said in comments reported by AFP.
“We defeated them on the land in 2022. We defeated them in the sea in 2023 and we are completely focused on defeating them in the air in 2024,” he said during a panel discussion at the forum in Switzerland.
His comments echo remarks by President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said on Tuesday that Ukraine “must gain air superiority” to enable “progress on the ground.”
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Various NATO countries are currently training Ukrainian pilots on American-made F-16 fighter jets.
Denmark said earlier this month it will transfer 19 F-16s in the second quarter of this year.
Washington had previously resisted allowing the jet transfers for fear of being deemed a direct belligerent in the Ukraine war by Moscow.
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