Ukraine Requests Gripen Jets from Sweden, 'No' says Stockholm

Ukraine has sought SAAB’s Gripen fighters, a request that was declined by Sweden.

Paul Johnson, Minister of Defense of Sweden, told European Pravda that Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked Sweden to send Gripen jets.

“When it comes to Gripen, we are currently facing limitations due to the fact that these aircraft are also very important to maintain our territorial integrity and sovereignty. So this will be a serious obstacle in terms of resources for our national defense,” the minister said.

He added that the current priority for Sweden is to strengthen the air defense of Ukraine.

“Yesterday, I had the opportunity to discuss this with the Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Oleksii Reznikov. We are also working with other countries to strengthen air defense,” he added.

Sweden will start training Ukrainian military on CV-90 usage next week. “Next week, we will start training the Ukrainian military on over 50 CV-90 infantry fighting vehicles. We provide various means of air defense, and winter clothing, and are determined to strengthen support for Ukraine,” he said.