Zelenskyj: “Significant number”
Ukraine will probably get a number of F-16 jets delivered
6/1/2023 at 9:43 p.m
Similar to the HIMARS missile launchers or Leopard tanks, the delivery of F-16 jets could be a big hit for the Ukrainian armed forces. The country has already started to receive some. Now there should be support from “several countries”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is confident that his country will receive a number of Western F-16 fighter jets. At the summit meeting of the new European Political Community in Moldova, he said he had “heard from a significant number” after the English translation of his press conference. A number of countries have expressed stronger support. The Ukrainian Air Force recently announced the number of 48 F-16 fighter jets that they expect.
Zelenskyy emphasized that the fighter jets were primarily needed to protect the population from Russian air raids and not for counter-offensives. A proposal by Ukraine is also to build a pan-European air defense system. Ukraine has experience with the topic because unfortunately they have already had to test the existing systems live. In the short term, Zelenskyj called for more Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems. Until Ukraine gets the fighter jets, more Patriots will be needed to protect them, he said.
Pilot training agreed
In his Telegram news channel, he said that the meeting in Moldova also agreed on the training of Ukrainian pilots on the F-16 and other aircraft. The aim is also to form a Ukrainian missile protection umbrella (sky shield). The decision could be made after further consultations with the US at the next defense ministers’ meeting at their military base in Ramstein, he said.
Germany does not own any F-16 fighter jets. Kiev therefore wants Berlin to deliver Eurofighter combat aircraft. Asked if it is realistic that Germany could deliver these to Ukraine in the future, Ukrainian ambassador Oleksii Makeiev recently told ntv: “There is nothing unrealistic for Ukraine and we need the jets.”
In addition to Selenskyj, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and dozens of other heads of state and government traveled to the summit meeting in Moldova, a neighboring country to Ukraine. In the format initiated by French President Emmanuel Macron, the states of the European Union want to improve cooperation with other European countries. A total of 47 heads of state and government were invited, but not from Russia and its partner country Belarus.