Former Supreme Commander-in-chief of the Alliance in Europe James Stavridis believes that the West should strengthen assistance to Kiev in the issue of air defenseNEW YORK, November 29.
/tass/. NATO leaders have returned to the idea of delivering MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine, as well as more modern American F-16s. This was announced on Tuesday in a column for Bloomberg by the former Supreme Commander of the NATO Joint Armed Forces in Europe, retired US Navy Admiral James Stavridis.
"The heads of NATO countries are again discussing the possibility of providing Kiev with Soviet MiG-29 fighters (Poland had previously announced its readiness to send them to Kiev) or even multifunctional and easy-to-learn American F-16s, which are available in abundance," Stavridis wrote. He recalls that the North Atlantic Alliance abandoned this plan in the first days of the military conflict and advises him to significantly increase support for Kiev from the air.
"The West should strengthen its assistance to Kiev in the issue of air defense. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, of course, wants NATO to impose a no-fly zone over the country and often calls on the West to "close the skies" of Ukraine. Most likely, he will receive Iron Dome air defense systems, Patriot air defense systems and, possibly, tactical fighters," Stavridis believes. He emphasizes that at the moment the advantage in the air belongs to the Russian Air Force, which has received serious combat experience in Syria.
