Mirage jets for Ukraine: France's pledge and Moscow's warning
A look back at the French aircraft announcement made days before 7 June 2024, and the Russian threat that preceded it.
What did Kyiv's partners promise in the days around 7 June 2024? One answer came from Paris, where President of France Emmanuel Macron announced on 6 June 2024 that his country would send Dassault Mirage 2000-5 fighter aircraft to Ukraine. He added that France would also train Ukrainian pilots, with both steps due by the end of 2024.
The announcement belonged to the wider flow of military aid to Ukraine during the Russo-Ukrainian War, and it came just after a sharp warning from Moscow. On 4 June 2024, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that French military instructors would be "legitimate targets" if they were deployed to Ukraine.
Taken together, the two statements, made two days apart, set out the positions of the two sides. France committed to supplying aircraft and training. Russia, through its foreign minister, threatened French instructors who might go to Ukraine.
As of 7 June 2024, the pledge was a timetable rather than a delivery: the jets and the pilot training were both promised for the end of 2024.
