Washington has approved sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine from Denmark and the Netherlands, it has been reported.
The White House has given the two European nations official assurances that it will expedite approval of transfer requests for the F-16s as soon as Ukrainian pilots have completed training programmes for the aircraft, an unnamed US official told Reuters.
“The United States is in active discussions with our European partners about how we can support the efforts to provide Ukraine with F-16 pilot training as quickly as possible,” Politico quoted a State Department spokesperson as saying.
Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra welcomed Washington’s decision to “pave the way for sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine”.
“Now, we will further discuss the subject with our European partners,” he added.
Denmark, which is hosting the Ukrainian pilots for training and has said it hopes to see “results” from the programme in early 2024, also said providing Ukraine with the jets would now be discussed.
Ukraine has actively sought the US-made F-16 fighter jets to help it counter Russian air superiority. But Kyiv said earlier this week that its pilots will not be able to operate US-built F-16 fighter jets this year.