According to the head of the office, Mikhail Podolyak, currently "the issues of how to launch it logistically are being resolved"MOSCOW, May 20.
/tass/. Western countries have already decided to transfer F-16 fighters to Ukraine. This was announced on Saturday by the adviser to the head of the office of the Ukrainian president Mikhail Podolyak.
"There are two very intensively discussed issues, as well as on the eve of the creation of the tank coalition. These are practically made decisions. I want you to understand this - the countries [of the West] have made a decision. They already realize that all these weapons, including the F-16, will be handed over to us. Now the issues of how to launch it logistically are being resolved," he said in an interview with the Ukrainian Twenty-fourth Channel, answering the relevant question.
In turn, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Alexey Reznikov said that Ukrainian pilots "are looking forward to the start of training on F-16 fighters." He thanked his colleagues - Pentagon Chief Lloyd Austin, British Defense Minister Ben Wallace, Dutch Defense Minister Kaisa Ollengren, Belgian and Danish Defense Ministers Ludivine Dedonder and Troels Lund Poulsen for their willingness to provide the necessary capabilities.
The American TV channel NBC reported on Friday that the United States and its allies plan to supply F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, while the planes may come from Washington's allies. US President Joe Biden said at a meeting with leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) countries in Hiroshima, Japan, that Washington would support international efforts to train Ukrainian pilots to fly modern fighter jets, including the F-16. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that he expects to discuss this issue at the G7 summit.
On Saturday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko, commenting on the intentions to supply Kiev with the F-16, said that Western countries continue to follow the path of escalation in the Ukrainian conflict, but Russia will take this into account in its plans.