President Biden on Friday approved a plan to train Ukrainian troops on F-16 fighter jets, moving Kyiv a step closer to receiving the military aircraft after more than a year of pleading.
Biden reportedly made the announcement during a meeting of the G-7 in Hiroshima, where the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the US are meeting to discuss security concerns such as the growing threats from Russia, China and North Korea.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — who is expected to meet with the G-7 on Saturday — has been begging the US and other Western nations to provide fighter jets since nearly the beginning of its 15-month war with invader Russia.
Neither Ukraine nor Russia has achieved air superiority during the war.
Still, even with Biden approving the training, the US wouldn’t necessarily send the fighter jets itself.
Other NATO allies, such as Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway, could be the conduit.
But the White House would still need to sign off on a third country’s request to get the American-made Lockheed-Martin jets to Ukraine — and Biden’s OK to the group on training Ukrainian pilots on the F-16s may be indicative of a coming approval to do just that.
Some US defense officials had been quietly concerned that sending the aircraft to Ukraine could escalate tensions between Moscow and Washington, or further provoke Russian brutality in Ukraine.
The Pentagon has officially continued to claim — even as recently as Thursday — that the US is instead focused on sending Ukraine other weapons such as air defense, missiles and rocket systems and munitions.
“Our priority has been giving Ukraine the air defense systems that they need and also their other priorities, including armor and artillery,” Pentagon deputy spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters Thursday. “That’s what we’ve been focused on with our packages. But when it comes to F-16s, I just have nothing new to announce today.”
The Defense Department has also previously said it is hesitant to send F-16s because the Ukrainians — who are used to flying Soviet-era jets — would require lengthy training, taking much-needed troops from the battlefield.
But the UK on Tuesday announced the creation of an international coalition of nations committed to procuring the fighter jets for Ukraine.
In doing so, the Brits promised to start training the Ukrainian pilots on the Western systems, with Belgium also agreeing to do the same.
While it remained unclear Friday whether Biden would sign off on Washington itself sending any actual aircraft to Ukraine, the White House has already warmed to sending weapons systems it initially resisted.
In January, it was announced that the US would provide Ukraine with M2 Abrams tanks.
Republican lawmakers throughout the past year have criticized Biden’s hesitance to send the jets.
The president’s critics include Senate Armed Services Committee member Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), who urged the Biden administration to give the OK on F-16s.
“We need to get them what they need now and listen to the Ukrainians,” Sullivan said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” in February. “They’ve proven their ability to fight bravely, and I think we need to do a much better job. Took nine months to get them the Patriot [missile systems], and I fear the same thing is happening right now with the F-16s.”
Meanwhile, the US plans to continue providing Ukraine with more weapons packages, particularly after the Pentagon informed Congress on Thursday that there was an additional $3 billion in equipment it could send Ukraine from US stockpiles after it discovered an accounting error that overvalued prior equipment sent in previous military aid packages.
“Our priority remains on supporting Ukraine with what it needs and for whatever it takes and forever how long it takes,” Singh said.
With AP
