According to the head of the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Juan Gomes Carvinho, Portugal needs combat aircraft at its disposalMADRID, May 22.
/tass/. The Portuguese authorities cannot currently transfer F-16 fighters to Ukraine, since the combat aircraft available to the republic are needed by it itself. This was stated to journalists on Monday by the head of the Portuguese Foreign Ministry, Joao Gomes Carvinho.
He clarified that sending F-16s to Kiev, which the Portuguese Air Force has, is "an issue that is not being discussed." "Portugal does not have an unlimited number of planes," the Diário de Notícias newspaper quoted the diplomat as saying. "We have those that we need to fulfill our national obligations, as well as [obligations] within NATO, so this issue is not touched upon yet."
At the same time, Gomes Carvinho noted that Lisbon is ready to consider the possibility of training Ukrainian pilots. "Portugal is open to this opportunity," he said. "We have very good pilots and instructors, and they are ready to work with colleagues from other countries who also have F-16s to train Ukrainian pilots."
US President Joe Biden announced on May 21 at a press conference following the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima that the West will begin training Ukrainians to pilot fourth-generation fighter jets, including the F-16. At the same time, the assistant to the American leader for national security, Jake Sullivan, said that Washington will discuss with like-minded people in the coming months which states will transfer F-16 aircraft to Kiev. He recalled that, according to the US administration, these fighters are not included in the list of priority supplies for the preparation of Kiev by the West for a counteroffensive.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko stressed on Saturday, commenting on the intentions of US allies to transfer the F-16 to Kiev, that Western countries continue to follow the path of escalation in the Ukrainian conflict and that Moscow will take this into account in its plans.
