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Sweden is considering sending fighter jets to Ukraine – but not until it is accepted into NATO.
The Swedish government announced a 14th round of military aid for Kyiv today, and tabled the possibility that it could transfer its Gripen fighter planes to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia.
Swedish defence minister Paul Jonson said politicians are assessing “the conditions under which Sweden can contribute in the field of combat aircraft”.
“We can do this by expanding our participation in the F-16 coalition or by donating or exporting the Gripen system,” he said.
The results of that assessment should come next month.
“We also stated that a mandatory condition for the provision of fighter jets is that Sweden is a NATO ally, and we had a dialogue with the Ukrainians, and they expressed their understanding of this,” Mr Jonson said.
For context: Sweden applied to join NATO alongside Finland following the Russian invasion last year.
Finland joined the alliance in April – but Sweden’s bid has stalled after opposition from Hungary and Turkey.
Ankara wants Stockholm to take more “concrete measures” against members of an extremist organisation, whom it claims are residing in Sweden.
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