US President Joe Biden has instructed the Pentagon to expand the programme for training Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets, as well as to restore and transfer to Kiev an additional Patriot air defence battery and missiles for these systems.
According to the US president, Washington intends to train an additional 18 Ukrainian pilots for F-16 aircraft in 2025.
‘I have instructed the Ministry of Defence to expand the training of Ukrainian pilots to operate F-16s, including by supporting the training of an additional 18 pilots next year,’ Joe Biden said in a statement.
In addition, he announced the transfer of an additional Patriot system battery and ammunition. The politician noted that this decision will allow Kiev to receive hundreds of additional missiles for Patriot and AMRAAM next year.
‘I instructed the Ministry of defence to restore and transfer to Ukraine an additional Patriot air defence battery and transfer to Ukraine additional missiles for Patriot’, – stated in the release.
We will remind, earlier The Washington Post said that the White House and the Pentagon doubt that the authorisation of long-range strikes on Russia will bring Ukraine closer to victory. US officials believe that the effect of such attacks will be minimal, while the risk of escalation will be significant.
