Portugal not yet ready to send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine
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Portugal is currently not ready to send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. This was stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the country, Joao Gomes Cravinho.
At the same time, Portugal is ready to start training Ukrainian pilots to work on fighter jets.
Cravinho elaborated that Portugal “does not have an unlimited number of aircraft”. “We have the ones that we need to fulfill our national obligations, as well as obligations to NATO, so for now this question does not arise,” – declared minister (quoted by Diario de Noticias).
At the summit of the leaders of the G7 countries, which took place on May 19-21 in the Japanese city of Hiroshima, an agreement was announced to supply fourth-generation American-made F-16 fighter jets to Kyiv.
Russian Foreign Ministry counted these plans escalated the conflict from the West. “There is movement along the so-called escalation ladder. And we see that Western countries are still adhering to the escalation scenario. It involves enormous risks for themselves. In any case, this will be taken into account in all our plans, and we have all the necessary means to achieve our goals,” Deputy Minister Alexander Grushko said.
May 20 Italian Prime Minister George Meloni stated about the impossibility of supplying F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, while the country will consider participation in the training of Ukrainian pilots. “We do not have F-16s, so we cannot participate in this project. But we are talking about the possible training of Ukrainian pilots. We have not yet made this decision and are discussing with the allies,” she said.
On May 17, it became known that the UK and the Netherlands would work to “create an international coalition to provide Ukraine with combat aviation capabilities, including training and purchasing F-16 aircraft.” The US and allies should in the coming months decide the question of the supply of fighters. As US presidential adviser Jake Sullivan said, the decision will be made as Ukrainian pilots are trained.
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