One of the representatives of the department suggested that there is a possibility of a scenario similar to the one with the supply of Abrams tanksWASHINGTON, February 1.
/tass/. Some Pentagon officials reacted with skepticism to the words of US President Joe Biden that Washington would not supply Kiev with F-16 fighter jets. The Washington Post writes about this on Tuesday, citing sources.
"President Biden's abrupt refusal to fulfill Ukraine's request for [the supply of] F-16 was met with skepticism in the Pentagon, where some officials, referring to the [characteristic] manner of the [US] administration to change [its position to the opposite] after the initial refusal in response to other requests from Kiev, foresee potential approval of [the transfer of F-16] or an option in which American allies will provide [Kiev] with aircraft with the permission of the administration (countries that have purchased F-16s from the United States must receive special permits from Washington for their re-export - approx. TASS)," the publication writes.
One of the representatives of the US defense department said that although the Pentagon's plans for the F-16 are unlikely to change in the near future, there is a possibility of a scenario similar to the one with the supply of Abrams tanks to Kiev. Initially, representatives of the Washington administration called it inappropriate to transfer these tanks to Ukraine due to the fact that it would be difficult for the AFU to maintain them. However, last week Washington announced its intention to supply Kiev with 31 such tanks.
In turn, another source of The Washington Post admitted that frustration is growing in the Pentagon among those who want to do more to help Ukraine, but their aspirations are blocked by supporters of a more cautious approach to this issue. According to this representative of the US military department, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin did not want to approve the sending of Abrams tanks to Kiev, as well as Patriot missile defense systems, but the president of the country eventually decided to provide them to Kiev.
Biden said on January 30 that Washington would not transfer F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. Polish Deputy Defense Minister Wojciech Skurkiewicz said on January 31 that the topic of the possible transfer of F-16 fighters to the Polish Air Force to Ukraine is not the subject of any discussion at the official level. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also stressed that the kingdom considers it inappropriate to supply fighters to Kiev. In recent days, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Defense Minister Boris Pistorius have repeatedly stated that Germany is not going to supply fighter jets to Ukraine.