The former Speaker of the House of Representatives of the US Congress noted that she gives this issue "paramount importance"MUNICH, February 18.
/tass/. Former Speaker of the House of Representatives of the US Congress Nancy Pelosi (representative of the Democratic Party) spoke out on Saturday for the transfer of F-16 fighter-bombers to Ukraine.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Pelosi noted that during 2022, American lawmakers consistently worked to fulfill Ukraine's requests for military support. "Now we want to [achieve the transfer of] the F-16. I fully support this and hope that it will be implemented," said the politician, who, following the results of the midterm elections to the US Congress, lost the post of speaker of the lower house to Republican Kevin McCarthy.
"Of course, we want to deliver these planes, we want to [transfer] combat aircraft. A decision has not been made yet, but this [issue] is of paramount importance," Pelosi stressed. The congresswoman also spoke in favor of starting training Ukrainian pilots to use the F-16 "right now, because it will take some time."
On February 17, the Politico newspaper reported that a group of five congressmen, which included both Democrats and Republicans, sent a letter to US President Joe Biden calling for the transfer of the F-16 to Ukraine.
Biden said on January 31 that Washington would not transfer F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. Later, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that Kiev was invited to begin training in the UK marines and fighter pilots in service with NATO. However, later the representative of Sunak clarified that the government had not made a decision on the transfer of fighters to Ukraine and the issue would be considered from different sides. In turn, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Defense Minister Boris Pistorius have repeatedly stated that Germany is not going to supply fighters to Ukraine.
As the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov stressed, Moscow perceives the supply of weapons by the West to the Ukrainian armed forces as the growing involvement of Western countries in the conflict in Ukraine.
