Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Bylström has announced his country's readiness to provide Ukraine with Gripen fighter jets in the future.
According to Yevropeiska Pravda, he said this in an interview with Voice of America.
Explaining why Stockholm had previously suspended the delivery of the aircraft to Kyiv, the Foreign Minister said that the decision was made because Ukraine had concluded that having two fighter systems - both F-16 and Gripen - was too much.
He added that these are complex systems, because it is not only about getting the aircraft and training the pilots, and it would be too difficult to implement two of them at the same time.
"But that doesn't mean that Sweden is not open to continuing with Gripens if and when the F-16 program is completed. Again, this is a matter for Ukraine, not the Swedish government," said Bylström.
The minister pointed out that since Sweden could not continue working with Gripen fighter jets due to the delivery of F-16s to Ukraine, Stockholm decided to provide Kyiv with other opportunities, including specialized ASC 890 aircraft.
"This will mean that we are providing something that Ukraine can use in coordination with the F-16s. This will give Ukraine the ability to better conduct air combat, observation and control of air combat," he said.-
When asked if this meant that Sweden could still be open to supplying Gripen in the future, he replied in the affirmative.
"Yes, yes. It's just a practical question... I would say that F-16s, which are now being introduced into the Ukrainian Air Force, will provide you with great and important capabilities. When this is realized, then we will be able to start talking about Gripen air fighters... But this decision was made by the Ukrainian government, not the Swedish government," said Bylström.-
Author - Dmitriy Levchenko, 11/07/2024