NATO Will Send Fighter Jets to Ukraine, Eventually—Ambassador Predicts

NATO nations will eventually provide Ukraine with the most potent conventional weapons to help push back Russian troops, according to Kyiv's ambassador to the alliance.

Natalia Galibarenko told Newsweek that discussions about longer-range weapons, fighter jets, and main battle tanks are ongoing with NATO members.

NATO nations not sending jets or main battle tanks—out of fear of provoking Russia—has been a particular frustration for Kyiv. But Galibarenko is optimistic.

"We are not there yet, unfortunately," Galibarenko said on fighters and tanks. "The allies know that we are very interested in getting aircraft and tanks, but there was no definite decision."

"Looking at these seven months of war, I can say that at some point we will be there," the ambassador added.

Vladimir Putin's orders for ongoing missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities are helping Kyiv make the argument for greater assistance, she said.

The U.S., Spain, and Germany recently committed to supplying additional anti-aircraft defenses or accelerating planned deliveries of such systems, prompting Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov to laud a "new era of air defense."

"We've all witnessed the change in attitude about supplying the air defense systems," Galibarenko said Friday of the impact of Russia's barrages last week, which resumed on Monday.

Galibarenko noted that Ukraine is also eyeing more advanced offensive and hybrid weapons systems to help press the ongoing counter-offensives in the east and south, where Ukrainian troops say they have liberated more than 600 settlements in a month.

"I remember when HIMARS was a taboo, when different artillery systems like howitzers were taboo. Everyone was saying to us: 'No, they will never be delivered because then NATO would be really engaged in a war with the Russian Federation.'"

"But now we are receiving these weapons systems from different countries. Sometimes it takes time for us and for the allies to reach a common decision."

Galibarenko said the recent shift in Western mentality is palpable.

"It's changed the minds and the positions of the allies in favor of Ukraine," she explained of Russia's recent attacks on Ukrainian cities. "Putin, he sometimes shoots himself in the foot...and receives an immediate and very strong response."

Ukrainian leaders have framed the Russian escalation—which Putin claimed as a retaliation to the attack that damaged the Crimea Bridge—as a sign of the Kremlin's desperation, as Russian troops retreat from key areas in the east and south of Ukraine.

"I agree that he's desperate," Galibarenko said. "He cannot even define the borders of the territories which he believes he legally annexed and integrated into the Russian Federation," she added, referring to the four partially-occupied regions Moscow claims to have annexed following sham referenda.

"He is in despair," the ambassador added.

Putin's mobilization order, annexations, and long-range strikes have so far failed to stop Ukraine's ongoing counter-offensives.

And Kyiv intends to continue its advances through the difficult winter. "Our plan is not to freeze over; this is exactly what the Russians are looking for," Galibarenko said.

"They need this pause to reshuffle, to renew their logistics and supply, and also to train these new reservists which will be coming to their forces on the territory of Ukraine."

"Our idea is, at least now, to keep the same pace that we have." NATO, she said, is helping with winter essentials like cold weather uniforms, shelters, heaters, and diesel generators.

Discussions are ongoing relating to assistance in repairing damaged Ukrainian equipment and training troops in NATO nations, Galibarenko said.

"Everything we are getting now, we need more of, and also more ammunition for the systems we have already," the ambassador said.

Putin's Nuclear Threats

Putin and his top officials regularly flash Russia's immense nuclear arsenal.

Western leaders have long warned they will not risk a direct NATO-Russia nuclear confrontation, French President Emmanuel Macron last week insisting that Paris would not respond in kind to a Russian nuclear strike in Ukraine.

Galibarenko suggested Putin's nuclear blackmail is less effective inside Ukraine than abroad. "Ukrainians are now at this stage of their spirits, their moods, that they are not afraid even to face a nuclear strike," she said.

"We are also maintaining dialogue with NATO and also our American friends, ensuring that the Russian leader is already aware that it would be a powerful response," the ambassador said.

"We should all be prepared for that, be cautious, and also keep something hidden about the response," Galibarenko said. "That will decrease the risk of a nuclear strike."

Will Ukraine Join NATO?

Ukraine's constitutionally enshrined NATO ambitions have survived almost eight months of war. Kyiv has repeatedly refused calls from abroad to declare neutrality in exchange for peace, not least because Ukraine's neutral status in 2014 did not prevent a Russian invasion then.

Last month, President Volodymyr Zelensky requested an "accelerated" path to full alliance membership in response to Russia's annexation of occupied Ukrainian territory.

"We will not be negotiating our neutrality with Russia," Galibarenko said. "We will be going to NATO. We understand that it will not happen tomorrow, we are not naive. We are trying to realistically assess the situation, but I think all the cards are now on the table."

"Some in NATO were happy, some not very happy," she said of Zelensky's most recent appeal to Brussels. "Building consensus among 30 member states has never been an easy task, and we understand that."

Zelensky's decision, she explained, was primarily for Ukraine's overwhelmingly pro-NATO population. "We were not doing this only for the West," she said.

"The first audience were Ukrainians themselves, because 76 percent of Ukrainians support the entry of Ukraine into NATO. People were asking for clarity; what is our destination? The president responded very precisely."

Membership seems highly unlikely until the eight-year-long war with Russia is over, though Galibarenko said there is "no formal obstacle saying ... we cannot join because of the territorial disputes."

In the meantime, Kyiv is looking for bilateral agreements to enhance its security, as outlined in the recent Kyiv Security Compact. Discussions are already underway with potential security guarantors, Galibarenko said, though declined to name any.

"I think it's quite realistic that deals can be reached," she said. "It's premature to predict what will be the result, but it's a smart approach to do something before NATO membership."