The White House once again ruled out the possibility of delivering fighter jets to Kyiv

US President Joe Biden is now ruling out the need to supply Ukraine with F-16 fighters, said Jake Sullivan, national security adviser to the head of the White House.

“President Biden has been very clear in his statement that he is ruling out (the need for fighter jets) right now.” answered Sullivan to CNN’s question about the possibility of deliveries of fighters in the future (quote from RIA Novosti).

Biden has previously said that Washington is not going to supply Kyiv with F-16 fighter jets. According to a Politico source, U.S. officials told Kyiv officials that sending fighter jets “is not possible at the moment.” Berlin took a similar position. At the same time, French President Emmanuel Macron said he did not rule out the possibility of delivering aircraft to Ukraine. On February 10, Dutch Defense Minister Kaisa Ollongren confirmed that Ukraine had sent a request to the country for the supply of F-16 fighter jets. Then she noted that this request is not easy to fulfill. The country needs to discuss fighter availability with the US and other allies, she said.

Among the ardent supporters of the idea of ​​sending fighters to Ukraine, the Baltic countries are mentioned. The head of the office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, said that Poland was giving “positive signals” on this issue, but later President Andrzej Duda said that the country’s authorities would not transfer F-16 fighters to Ukraine. Republic not enough fighters for transfer to Ukraine, explained later in the Ministry of Defense.

In mid-February, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the supply of military aircraft to Kyiv is not an urgent issue, but discussions on this issue continue. Josep Borrell, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, also spoke about the fact that the supply of fighter jets is not on the agenda.

Jake Sullivan this week declaring on the allocation of a new $ 2 billion aid package to Kyiv, said that the potential supply of F-16 fighter jets is a matter of long-term, not short-term defense of Ukraine.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said at the end of January that Ukraine needed supplies of Western long-range missiles and aircraft. Later, an adviser to the office of the Ukrainian president, Mikhail Podolyak, said that Ukraine was negotiating with Western countries regarding the transfer of aviation and long-range missiles to the country.

Moscow has repeatedly warned of the negative consequences of sending advanced Western weapons to Ukraine. Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov said that the transfer of weapons would not fundamentally change the situation, but would “add problems” for Ukraine.