Zelenskiy says Ukraine will obtain 100 Rafale warplanes from France

reuters.com

23 points·doener··7 comments

I wonder if they considered SAAB's Gripen[0].

Thailand recently ordered some[1] as tensions with Cambodia have reached concerning levels[2].

Both Thailand and Ukraine need to project the image of themselves being the victim of opression. In the context of the Ukraine War, the purchase of a founding NATO member's aircraft carries a political risk. Until recently, Sweden carried a historical reputation for neutrality[3] that might have benefited Ukraine here - unless Ukraine really is a NATO/Russian proxy battleground.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saab_JAS_39_Gripen

[1] https://www.saab.com/newsroom/press-releases/2025/saab-recei...

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Cambodian%E2%80%93Thai_bo...

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_neutrality

> unless Ukraine really is a NATO/Russian proxy battleground

is there a good reason to believe otherwise?

I probably should have placed an "/s" after that sentence.

ah, thanks for the clarification. It's hard sometimes to read the irony out of a text by someone unknown. cheers

They also want 150 Gripen E: https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/ukraines-...

Of course the war between Ukraine and Russia is partly a NATO proxy war. Every NATO member should be using this as an opportunity to eliminate Russia as a future threat by wrecking their economy and killing as many Russians as possible. And also helping Ukraine as the victim of an unprovoked invasion is the right thing to do. Who cares about neutrality, at this point it's totally irrelevant.

> NATO/Russian proxy battleground.

It is actually NATO / North Korea + Iran + China proxy war. By using your logic.

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