The President of the United States, Joe Biden on Friday informed G7 leaders that Washington is keen to support providing advanced warplanes including F-16s to Ukraine and will back efforts to train Kyiv’s pilots.
Africa Today News, New York reports that the move by the US actually signals a major breakthrough for Kyiv, which has repeatedly — and until recently unsuccessfully — pushed its Western supporters to agree to provide high-tech jets as it fights to fend off Russia’s invasion.
In the meantime, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who is billed to meet Biden during the G7 summit in Japan has hailed the move as a ‘historic decision,’ adding that he looked forward to ‘discussing the practical implementation’ of the plan in Hiroshima.
Biden said the United States ‘will support a joint effort with our allies and partners to train Ukrainian pilots on fourth-generation fighter aircraft, including F-16s, to further strengthen and improve the capabilities of the Ukrainian Air Force,’ according to a While House official.
‘As the training takes place over the coming months, our coalition of countries participating in this effort will decide when to actually provide jets, how many we will provide, and who will provide them.’
Read Also: Counteroffensive: Ukraine Moves To Target Russian Fuel Sites
The UK, Belgium, and the Netherlands welcomed the decision.
“The UK will work together with the USA and the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark to get Ukraine the combat air capability it needs,” Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tweeted, adding: “We stand united.”
Denmark’s acting defence minister Troels Lund Poulsen said it ‘will now be able to move forward for a collective contribution to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16s.’
Africa Today News, New York reports that momentum has been building for providing high-tech warplanes to Ukraine, but US support is key, as it legally has to approve the re-export of equipment purchased by allies, including F-16 jets.
Earlier this week, Sunak and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte pledged to build an “international coalition” to provide fighter jet support for Ukraine.
After visiting Sunak at his Chequers country estate outside London on Monday, Zelensky said he was “very positive” about creating a “jets coalition.”
Sunak said Monday that the UK was preparing to open a flight school to train Ukrainian pilots, and French President Emmanuel Macron also offered to do so but ruled out sending warplanes to Kyiv.