Joe Biden “looks forward” to meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at this weekend’s G7 summit in Japan after paving the way for future deliveries of fighter jets to help Ukraine “defend” against Russia, said the White House on Saturday.
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The President of the United States “looks forward to the opportunity to meet him in person,” said his national security adviser Jake Sullivan, confirming a planned meeting between the two heads of state in Hiroshima.
Mr. Zelenskyy is expected in the Japanese city from Saturday, where he will attend the final day of the summit of the seven main industrialized democracies on Sunday, in the presence of several invited major emerging powers, including India and Brazil. On Friday he made a stopover in Saudi Arabia to attend an Arab League summit.
“It is a very good and important thing that he went to the Arab League to have the opportunity to defend his cause from a Ukrainian point of view so that the world would support Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” said Jake Sullivan.
Shortly before the Ukrainian president’s arrival in Japan, Joe Biden overcame his longstanding reluctance by declaring that he was ready to allow other countries to supply Kiev with whatever American-made F-16 fighter jets he wanted. A “historic” decision, welcomed the Ukrainian President.
Jake Sullivan confirmed to the Hiroshima press that Washington is now supporting a joint initiative by its allies to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16s. During this training, which is expected to last months, the West will decide on the delivery schedule of the planes, their numbers and the countries that will provide them, he affirmed.
Joe Biden’s diplomatic adviser asserted that American doctrine “has not changed”. “Our approach to supplying Ukrainians with arms, equipment and training followed the requirements of the conflict,” he explained.
He believed that beyond the immediate needs related to counterterrorism, the F-16s are part of the equipment that Kiev will need “in the future” to “deter and defend against any Russian aggression.” The Ukrainian offensive was announced for several weeks by Ukraine.
The White House reiterated the US position that the United States, through its military assistance, including fighter jets, “does not facilitate or support attacks on Russian soil.” “Ukrainians have repeatedly signaled that they are ready to respect that position,” Mr. Sullivan assured.