Reuters: The United States approved the transfer of F-16s to Ukraine by Denmark and the Netherlands
The United States approved the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine by the Netherlands and Denmark.
Reuters reports this, citing a source.
When will Ukraine receive the F-16?
According to a Reuters source, the Netherlands and Denmark will transfer the fighters to Ukraine after the training of Ukrainian pilots to fly these aircraft is completed.
It is noted that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken sent letters to his colleagues from the Netherlands and Denmark with guarantees that Washington supports the transfer of fighter jets to Ukraine.
I am writing this to express full support on behalf of the United States for the transfer of F-16 fighters to Ukraine and the training of Ukrainian pilots by qualified instructors, – said in a letter from the head of American diplomacy, a copy of which was at the disposal of the agency.
Blinken said approval of third-country requests to transfer fighter jets to Ukraine will allow it to take advantage of new opportunities once the training of the first group of pilots is completed.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen confirmed receipt of US permission to transfer F-16s to Ukraine.
We have received a friendly letter from the US Secretary of State, which gives us the opportunity to act – said the minister, noting that his Dutch colleague Wopke Hoekstra received a similar permit.
Hoekstra, in turn, said he welcomed the US decision.
We will continue discussing the issue with our European partners– wrote the head of the Dutch political department on the social network X.
According to the Dutch information portal NL Times, the first Ukrainian pilots will complete training to fly the F-16 no earlier than next summer.
The head of the Danish Ministry of Defense, Jakob Ellemann-Jensen, said that Copenhagen is already discussing the transfer of F-16s to Ukraine with its allies and will soon provide more specific information on this issue.
In July, the Danish Ministry of Defense announced that the training of Ukrainian pilots with the participation of 11 countries will begin at the end of the summer and that the results will be in early 2024.
