01 February 2023 , 18:17
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Boris Johnson tonight called for Ukraine to be given Western fighter jets - pointing to the success of Polish pilots flying RAF Spitfires in the Second World War.
The former Prime Minister used an appearance at a Washington think tank to demand Kyiv be given warplanes to help repel Russian invaders.
The White House and Downing Street have so far ruled out sending fighter jets to President Volodymyr Zelensky’s regime.
But New York-born Mr Johnson told the Atlantic Council he did not believe claims the aircraft would be too complicated for Ukrainian pilots.
“I have to say I take that argument with a bit of a pinch of salt,” he said
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“I’m lucky enough to represent the constituency of Uxbridge and South Ruislip in the west of London where in the Second World War was based the famous 303 Squadron which was flown by Polish pilots.
The ex-PM compared giving western warplanes to Kyiv with Polish airmen flying RAF Spitfires in 1940 (PA)“Never forget that the Poles in the Battle of Britain took out one seventh of the Nazi planes.
“It didn’t take long for those Polish pilots to work out how to use a Hawker Hurricane or a Spitfire and I don’t think it would take the Ukrainians long to work out how to use F-16s or Typhoons or whatever we have to give them.”
Mr Johnson said that “every time we come to a fork in the road and we are asked to make a choice about sending some new type of weaponry to Ukraine to help them, we begin by saying, ‘No’ and ‘This is an escalation, this is a provocation, we mustn’t do this’.”
He added: “Experience teaches us that when it comes to it, we finally decide to let the Ukrainians have what they need to defend themselves.
The Eurofighter Typhoon is the RAF's frontline jet (PA)“If that’s where we are going to end up, let’s do it now and let’s stop the delay and end this war as fast as possible, because that’s the humane thing to do.”
He urged: “Give the Ukrainians the tools to finish the job.
“The faster they win, the greater the savings in treasure and in lives.”
The former Premier also dismissed fears Russia would launch a nuclear weapon if the conflict escalated by western allies sending more equipment to Kyiv.
Mr Johnson said Kremlin tyrant Vladimir Putin “won’t use nuclear weapons because it would instantly extinguish the last flicker of Chinese support, it would lose him everyone of the world’s swing voters, he would terrify his own people if he did so who would live in dread of the consequences for them”.
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Defence Secretary Ben Wallace tonight refused to rule out sending fighter planes.
"I've been involved with this for a pretty long time and I've learned two things - never rule anything in and never rule anything out,” he said.
"This is not a solid decision. For now, I don't think that's the right approach.”
Giving evidence to the Commons Defence Select Committee, the head of the RAF, Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston said the PM and Mr Wallace had been “very clear on where we stand on fast jets at this stage”.
But he added: "These are things that, the course of the invasion - of the brutal invasion and Ukraine's heroic defence and how we have supported them - that has been an evolutionary process and I look to the future and we should be ready for any outcomes."
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