The White House allowed the transfer of F-16 to Ukraine before the end of the conflict
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F-16 fighter jets may be handed over to Ukraine before the end of the conflict. This was stated by the coordinator for strategic communications at the White House National Security Council John Kirby in interview TV channel CNN.
“F-16s have never been considered as a counteroffensive weapon. We are currently monitoring developments. I hope the fighting ends much sooner. But if that doesn’t happen, then we’ll hand over the F-16s to them as quickly as possible,” Kirby said.
In mid-June, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg did not name the timing of the delivery of fighters, noting that everything would depend on the training of pilots and the situation in the conflict zone. On June 23, Politico reported that deliveries of the fighters could begin in 2024, but when exactly is still unknown. According to the publication, the Netherlands and Denmark can transfer the fighters to Ukraine.
In Kyiv count to receive the first F-16s by the end of 2023. According to Andriy Yermak, head of the office of the President of Ukraine, almost all countries of the aviation coalition have declared their readiness to send F-16 fighters to Ukraine.
At the summit of the leaders of the G7 countries (USA, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Japan), which was held 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 Kiev. The training of Ukrainian pilots has already begun in several countries.
The Russian authorities noted that the supply of fighter jets to Kyiv won’t change situation on the line of contact, but Russia will give military-technical response in the event of an F-16 appearing in the sky of Ukraine. June 16 at the plenary session SPIEF Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasizedthat the fighters that got to Ukraine will burn in the same way as the Leopard tanks. According to him, the Russian army successfully destroys this equipment when repelling attacks by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
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