The United States said Friday it has given Denmark and the Netherlands the green light to send American F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine once Ukrainian pilots are trained to fly.
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A US State Department spokesman said Denmark and the Netherlands had received “formal assurances” on the matter.
“This will allow Ukraine to take full advantage of its new capabilities once the first batch of pilots complete their training. The F-16 will contribute to Ukraine’s defense and deterrence capabilities,” the spokesman added.
“Great news from our friends in the United States!” Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiï Reznikov was quick to greet on X (formerly Twitter).
From the beginning of the Russian invasion, Kiev has relentlessly called for Western aircraft to counter Moscow’s then vastly superior forces.
The United States has strict rules regarding the resale or transfer of American military equipment by allies.
We welcome Washington’s decision to pave the way for the deployment #F 16 Warplanes to Ukraine. Many thanks to @SecBlinken for the good and fast cooperation. Now we will continue to discuss the issue with our European partners. 🇺🇸🇳🇱🇺🇦 1/2
—Wopke Hoekstra (@WBHoekstra) August 17, 2023
It is not yet known when the Ukrainian pilots will complete their training.
Conducted by a coalition of 11 countries, that training was due to start this month, and officials said they hope the pilots will be ready in early 2024.
Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren welcomed the green light on Friday.
“It allows us to bring the issue of training Ukrainian pilots to a successful conclusion,” she said on X.
I welcome the US decision to open the way for the delivery of F-16 jets to Ukraine. It allows us to continue training Ukrainian pilots.
We remain in close contact with European partners to decide on the next steps.#WeStandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/Qvx4RtnygR
— Kajsa Ollongren (@DefensieMin) August 18, 2023
But “everything takes time,” Ms Ollongren told Dutch press agency ANP.
It will be several months before the Netherlands can actually send F-16s, she said, according to the ANP.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in July that the delivery of F-16 fighter jets was viewed by Moscow as a “nuclear” threat.
Although the supply of fighter jets should help Ukraine in the long term, the fact remains that its army cannot quickly benefit from it, even if its counter-offensive, launched in June, is intended to allow the recapture of all areas occupied by Russia so far only allowed the recapture of a handful Villages.
For its part, Russia said on Friday it had destroyed Ukrainian drones in Moscow and the Black Sea, two places where such attacks have multiplied in recent weeks.
These attacks came as a Russian official confirmed that Ukrainian forces had opened a breach on the left bank of the Dnieper, the front line in the country’s south.
AFP journalists noted that the outer walls of the site have partially collapsed.
Great news from our friends in the United States!
Green light for Netherlands and Denmark to deliver F-16 to Ukraine after our pilots complete their training.
Ukraine has proved that the impossible is indeed possible.
Our military has proven that it’s equipped with fast…— Oleksii Reznikov (@oleksiireznikov) August 18, 2023
According to the TASS agency, the airspace near Moscow’s Vnukovo International Airport was temporarily closed.
At the end of July, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi welcomed the fact that “a war is coming to Russian territory”.
On the Black Sea side, Russia said it had thwarted a fresh Ukrainian attack using a naval drone against its fleet a few hours earlier.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the ships targeted on Thursday evening were “performing navigation control tasks in the southwestern part of the Black Sea, 237 kilometers southwest of Sevastopol,” the Russian naval headquarters said.
Despite the sea blockade, the first cargo ship to leave Ukraine since the end of the grain deal arrived in Turkey as planned on Thursday evening, maritime sources said.
The Hong Kong-flagged container ship “Joseph Schulte” left the Ukrainian port of Odessa on Wednesday, a challenge for Russia, which has threatened to attack such vessels since it left the EU deal.
Since withdrawing from the grain agreement concluded under the auspices of the UN and Turkey and which came into force in the summer of 2022, Moscow has also stepped up its attacks on Ukrainian port infrastructure on the Black Sea and the Danube.
Russia’s attempts to unilaterally gain control of Black Sea shipping come amid a military counter-offensive launched by Ukrainian forces in June that relies on new Western equipment but is making slow progress.