The head of the special commission of the Verkhovna Rada on monitoring the supply of weapons and other assistance to Ukraine, Oleksandr Ustinov, said that the United States deliberately slow down the process of training Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 aircraft.
“This is purely a matter of politics. <…> Everything we asked for, we actually received, however, six months later. <…> If we had F-16 fighter jets for the counter-offensive in 2023, it would be a different story,” the MP told The Times.
The head of the Verkhovna Rada’s special commission on monitoring arms deliveries and other aid to Ukraine emphasised that because of Washington’s “political decisions”, Kiev would receive only 30 pilots by the end of 2024 who had undergone a full course of training in the use of US aircraft.
“So far we will have fewer trained pilots than fighter jets,” – stated Alexander Ustinov.
We shall remind you that Defense News earlier reported that the training of Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 aircraft did not meet certain requirements and standards.
