Blinken: delivery of US F-16 fighter jets to Kiev will take approximately several months
The transfer of US F-16 fighter jets to Kiev may stretch for several months, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in an interview with CNN.
“It’s not just the equipment itself. It’s the training. It’s the maintenance. It’s the ability to use it in general military operations. All of this takes time,” he said.
John Kirby, coordinator of strategic communications at the US National Security Council, said on Thursday that deliveries of US F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine could begin near the end of this year, but they are unlikely to change the course of the conflict. According to him, Ukrainian troops need artillery most of all.
Earlier, the head of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office, Andriy Yermak, said that Kiev hopes to receive the first F-16s by the end of 2023. At the same time, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg could not name the terms of delivery of fighter jets. According to him, it will depend on the training of pilots and assessment of the situation by the allies. In his turn, the director of operations at the Pentagon’s Joint Staff, Douglas Sims, said on 13 July that the transfer of US fighter jets to Ukraine now would be untimely.
As Vladimir Putin noted at the SPIEF plenary session, if Kiev receives F-16s, but they are based outside Ukraine, Russian troops will consider options to defeat these aircraft.
Moscow sent a note to NATO countries last spring over the supply of military aid to Ukraine. Russia has repeatedly noted that any cargoes that contain weapons for Kiev would be a legitimate target for the Russian army.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also said that the USA and the alliance were directly involved in the conflict – not only by supplying weapons, but also by training personnel on the territory of the UK, Germany, Italy and other countries.
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