Several European countries are willing to transfer their US-made F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine but the US administration is resisting the push to begin Ukrainian pilot training on these planes by not giving the green light to their exports, The New York Times reports, citing a high-ranking Ukrainian official.
Kyiv’s Western partners in Europe can only introduce the Ukrainian military to the technical language and conduct tactical lessons, while training flights on these jets remain off the table until the US agrees to it.
An unnamed US official told the newspaper that the White House opposes the jet handover to Ukraine because the operation is too expensive and will take too much time. The fighter jet supplies will possibly consume a lion’s share of the depleting budget allocated to support Ukraine in military terms, while the jet deployment will take at least several months, NYT was told.
US officials are now focused on supplying different weapons to Kyiv before the long-awaited Ukrainian counteroffensive begins. At the same time, a Biden administration representative does not rule out the possibility that Washington will eventually grant European countries a permit to re-export the F-16s.
On 16 May, the UK and the Netherlands announced the creation of an international coalition aiming to purchase modern fighter jets that Ukraine is requesting to repel Russian attacks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that the UK, France, and the Netherlands would work together with Kyiv on this “fighter jet coalition”.
Germany previously conceded that German fighters could be sent to Ukraine. Moreover, British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said that the British military would launch the first training phase for Ukrainian pilots. The initiative will see Ukrainian army pilots training in accordance with the British flight programme to use these acquired skills later on different aircraft.
