Walter Finch
SIX Spanish F-18 fighter jets have returned home after completing a NATO mission in northern Europe – making a pit stop in the skies above Scotland to refuel from a French tanker.
The aircraft flew from Keflavik air base in Iceland back to Zaragoza on Monday.
During the journey, they hooked up mid-air with a French air-to-air refuelling plane, a manoeuvre the Spanish defence chiefs hailed as a symbol of ‘cooperation and interoperability between allies’ in safeguarding NATO airspace.
The deployment had formed part of NATO’s ongoing missions to reinforce collective defence across northern Europe, particularly around Norway and Iceland where Spanish jets had been operating since earlier this summer.
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The show of allied cooperation comes as leaders grapple with a far weightier question – what security guarantees they can offer Ukraine to backstop any potential ceasefire deal with Russia.
A recent Washington summit involving President Trump, President Zelenskyy and leaders of EU and NATO states focused heavily on designing NATO?style protections for Kyiv, potentially backed by air support.
However, Trump ruled out the most effective security guarantee – sending US soldiers to Ukraine.
Europe’s response has included the formation of a ‘coalition of the willing’ and tentatively pledging to deploy troops if a peace settlement requires enforcement.
However, Russian Foreign Secretary Sergei Lavrov has categorically ruled out Western boots on the ground, instead claiming Russia itself should provide the security guarantees to Ukraine.
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He added ominously: “I am confident that in the West – first and foremost in the United States – they perfectly understand that discussing the issue of security without Russia in a serious manner is a utopia, a road to nowhere.”
The notion that Russia might provide security guarantees to Ukraine will be unacceptable to European leaders, signalling that ceasefire talks might break down.
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