Mindef denies being approached by Ukraine, US to buy air assets for war

KUALA LUMPUR – The Defence Ministry has denied speculations on foreign governments appealing to Malaysia to sell its air assets in order to assist Ukraine in its war efforts against Russia.

A ministry official dismissed the image of a tweet, which has been copied and reposted several times, that arms dealers representing Ukraine and the United States governments are pushing for Malaysia to sell its Sukhoi Su-30MKM fighter aircraft for subsequent use in the war.

“There is no such request. It is not true,” said the official to The Vibes.

Malaysia currently has 18 Su-30MKM fighters in its inventory, which are mostly stationed at the RMAF Gong Kedak Airbase in Pasir Puteh, Kelantan.

It was reported that the Malaysian government had spent US$900 million (RM3.9 billion) on all 18 Su-30MKM fighters.

Ukraine is currently embroiled in an all-out armed conflict with Russia after the latter launched a full-scale invasion of the country on February 24. 

To date, the US has provided some US$3.8 billion in arms and equipment to Ukraine since August 2021. 

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah has given an assurance that Malaysia will maintain its stand of non-alignment with any side in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. 

However, he stressed that, at the same time, Malaysia has never condoned any aggression by any country that threatened the sovereignty of another country.

“We keep on encouraging both sides to end this conflict. We know that there are people who are working to get the two sides to end this conflict. We are not involved to that extent, but we do engage various actors who are actively working on this,” he said.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has also expressed Malaysia’s view that the US should use its influence to help solve the crisis.

Speaking at the Asean-US Special Summit here on May 13, he said that Malaysia had pointed out that Southeast Asian countries were also affected by the war, especially in terms of the rise in inflation and food prices.

Asean wants the Russia-Ukraine crisis to be resolved through the negotiation table, he had said. – The Vibes, May 23, 2022