First modification:
At the G7 leaders meeting, US President Joe Biden said Washington would support allies in joint programs to train Ukrainian pilots to fly fourth-generation aircraft, a significant backing for Kiev which seeks to increase its air power against Russia.
While the leaders of the world’s most powerful democracies were advancing on strategies to toughen the punishment of Russia for the war in Ukraine, two US officials told the AP and Reuters news agencies that the training of Ukrainian soldiers in F planes -16 will take place in Europe and will take at least 18 months.
This announcement is the latest in a package of measures deployed by the Biden administration to arm Ukraine with more advanced and lethal machinery and comes just after Washington sent a rocket launch system and Abrams tanks.
“While this training will take place over the coming months, our coalition of countries participating in this effort will decide when we will actually supply fighter jets, how many we will provide, and who will provide them,” the US official said, without specifying which countries. would participate in this initiative.
Despite this, the United States has been clear that this artillery has been delivered to defend Ukraine and has distanced itself from being an accomplice to kyiv’s attacks on Russian territory.
As for the rest of the Western leaders, their statements have focused on making it clear that they seek to be cautious with deliveries to Ukraine, avoiding sending too much equipment and leaving their countries defenseless as a possible target for Moscow.
“Our support for Ukraine will not waver (…) We promise to remain united against Russia’s illegal, unjustifiable and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine,” the G7 leaders published in a statement, after their closed-door meeting in Hiroshima, Japan.
However, the announcement of this Friday, May 19, puts Ukraine in a firmer position in the airspace because, although Poland and Slovakia have delivered 27 MiG-29s to the Government of Volodimir Zelenski, Kiev so far does not have aircraft that have Western hunting design.
In the context of the war, Ukraine has said that the F-16 jets to be provided by the US “are a much better weapon” than the Soviet-designed aircraft currently flown by Ukrainian troops.
“I welcome the historic decision by the United States and the President of the United States to support an international coalition of fighter jets. This will greatly improve our military in the skies. I look forward to discussing the practical application of this decision at the summit of the G7 in Hiroshima,” Zelensky tweeted Friday.
I welcome the historic decision of the United States and @POTUS to support an international fighter jet coalition. This will greatly enhance our army in the sky. I count on discussing the practical implementation of this decision at the #G7 summit in Hiroshima.
— Volodimir Zelensky (@ZelenskyyUa) May 19, 2023
After the announcement, the official quoted by the news agencies said that now the United States enters a “new phase” in which it will have to determine when, how many and who will provide the fourth generation combat aircraft.
While that happens, training is expected to begin outside Ukrainian territory in the coming weeks.
The president at the forefront of the combat, Volodimir Zelenski, has repeatedly announced the preparation of a counter-offensive with the aim of “recovering territory that belongs to Ukraine”, which today is under Russian control and has even been illegally annexed to its territory. .
Under this premise, Kiev has requested its Western allies to supply it with fighter-bombers, to defend itself against Russia, but Biden has been reluctant to the request and has not directly responded to this request.
In February, the UK announced that it would develop a new training program for Ukrainian pilots to support its efforts to create a new Ukrainian air force with NATO F-16 fighter jets, however the exact date is still unknown. progress of this project and the details of how it can be made real.
With Reuters and AP
