Politico learned about Ukraine's desire to receive up to 50 F-16 fighters from Western allies Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wants the possible supply of F-16 fighter jets to Kiev to become one of the central topics at the G7 summit in Japan and at the meeting of NATO heads of state in Lithuania, Advisor to the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Yuriy Sak said.
According to him, the country needs about 40-50 such machines, because now Ukraine has "nothing to stop" Russian planes that deliver planning bombs hitting targets at long distances.
Kiev hopes to receive up to 50 F-16 fighter jets from Western allies, the Politico newspaper reports with reference to the adviser to the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Yuriy Saka.
According to him, the country now has "nothing to stop" Russian planes that deliver planning bombs hitting targets at long distances.
"We understand that our air defense will not be complete without F-16 fighters," he said.
In this regard, the President of the country, Vladimir Zelensky, wants the topic of combat aircraft to be in the spotlight at the G7 summit in Hiroshima and at the NATO summit in Vilnius in July, the adviser noted.
According to him, the President of Ukraine received "assurances" from Western heads of state during his last European tour that they would discuss this issue in the near future.
Although the UK, Italy, France and Germany cannot yet offer Ukraine the F-16, according to the adviser, "they have an important voice in the international coalition." Therefore, Ukraine would like them to "encourage" such allies as the United States and Turkey.
"One of the concerns of Ukrainians is how to protect their skies from drone attacks, helicopter strikes, and Russian fighter jets. Therefore, it is quite natural to talk about everything, and aviation is part of the conversation," an official of the French presidential administration told Politico on condition of anonymity.
"Coalition of Fighters"
At a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, Zelensky said that Ukraine was working on creating a "coalition of fighters", which should include countries ready to provide combat aircraft to Kiev.
On May 15, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, receiving Zelensky in London, announced plans to create a coalition of countries in order to supply Kiev with fighter jets, as well as to organize training for Ukrainian pilots.
He promised this week to hold talks with the leaders of other states on the subject of this coalition.
The Ukrainian president said that the country cannot control the sky without fighter jets.
"We want to create a coalition on jet planes, and I feel very good about it. We talked about it... in the near future, you will hear several, I think, very important decisions - but we need to work on this a little more," Zelensky said.
Training, not supplies
Since the beginning of hostilities in February 2022, Kiev has been trying to convince the allies to supply the Ukrainian armed forces with modern fighters. The West has so far not agreed to this amid concerns about further military escalation and technical difficulties: the need to build longer runways on Ukrainian territory and pilot training.
The British Prime Minister publicly supported the idea of supplying fighter jets to Ukraine, although he said that London has no plans to do so yet. According to Sunak, he will defend the need to send aircraft both at the Council of Europe summit in Iceland and at negotiations with world leaders within the G7.
Earlier, the British authorities announced the start of training of Ukrainian pilots in the summer, and also promised to continue working with other countries on the possible provision of F-16s to Kiev.
French President Emmanuel Macron also announced the beginning of training of Ukrainian pilots to control fighter jets.
"We will not supply weapons that will allow [Ukraine] to hit targets on Russian soil," Macron stressed.
The coordinator for Strategic Communications at the White House National Security Council, John Kirby, also said that the United States has not changed its decision not to provide F-16 fighters to the Armed Forces. Nevertheless, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmitry Kuleba said that active diplomacy brings the country closer to an effective "closure of the sky", and promised more news on the issue of providing fighter jets to Kiev, adding that Kiev "will get everything."
Alice Andreeva
