Ukraine has begun discussing with Sweden the possibility of receiving Gripen jets to boost its air defences, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday after meeting Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.

Zelensky’s visit is his first to Sweden since Russia’s invasion in February 2022 and the talks about obtaining Gripen jets, which he cast as preliminary, follow approval from the US for Denmark and the Netherlands to send F-16 fighters to Ukraine.

“Today we discussed in detail the future steps regarding the possibility of opening the subject of receiving Swedish Gripens,” Zelensky said at a joint news briefing with Kristersson, adding that the topic would be central to his meetings with other Swedish officials.

In June, the Swedish government had said it would give Ukrainian pilots the opportunity to test its Saab-made Gripen fighter jet, but it has also said that it needs all its planes to defend Swedish territory.

Zelensky said on Saturday that Ukrainian pilots had already begun training on the planes.

Kristersson made no mention of Gripens in his remarks, but condemned a Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Chernihiv on Saturday. “It only reinforces the need for us to stand with you in all your struggles,” Kristersson said.