Washington still considers it unlikely to transfer fighter jets to the Armed Forces, but does not rule out the possibility of allowing such supplies by other countries, writes Politico with reference to a Pentagon official.
The United States of America may consider allowing allies to transfer their combatants F-16 fighters Ukraine, while alone Washington rejects Kyiv’s requests. This was reported by the American publication on the night of Thursday, February 2 Politico with reference to a high-ranking official of the US Department of Defense (Pentagon).
The F-16 fighter is a development of the American company General Dynamics Corporation. Any export of these aircraft by other countries should be coordinated with the US, just as it happens only with the permission of Berlin supply of German Leopard tanks.
Some European countries that have F-16s in service, such as the Netherlands, have already demonstrated their readiness to hand them over to Kyiv.
“There are other countries that are talking about it. So when they come forward with their proposals, I think we will have those conversations. I don’t think we’re against (providing. – Ed.) fourth-generation aircraft, I just think we have to make sure that we continue to get our priorities right,” a senior Pentagon official said on condition of anonymity.
Kyiv is optimistic about combat aviation
Currently, Western officials are more focused on providing Ukraine with air defense equipment, as well as armored vehicles and artillery for the expected spring offensive of the Russian Federation. Sending fighter jets to Kiev “doesn’t solve the cruise missile problem, doesn’t solve the drone problem,” the Pentagon official said, adding that so far there have been no high-level discussions about providing the F-16s.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, after a meeting with French officials on January 31, predicted that Kyiv could still get F-16s, Swedish Gripens fighters “or something from France.”
The next important event where the members of the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO) can discuss the provision of combat aircraft to Kyiv will be a meeting in the Rammstein format on February 14.
