Tobias Billstrom believes that countries that have military equipment ready for delivery to Kiev should state thisBRUSSELS, May 22.
/tass/. Deliveries of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine will not lead to an escalation of the conflict. This opinion was expressed to journalists on Monday by Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom upon arrival at a meeting with colleagues in Brussels, answering a question about the possibility of further strengthening the confrontation between the parties after sending Kiev new weapons systems, in particular the F-16.
"No, I don't think so," he said.
According to the minister, "giving Ukraine the opportunity to get more military equipment is a matter for Ukraine." Billstrom also believes that countries that have military equipment ready for delivery to Kiev should state this.
On May 21, US President Joe Biden announced at a press conference on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima that his country, together with its allies, would begin training Ukrainian pilots, including on F-16 aircraft.
Earlier, the assistant to the American leader for national security, Jake Sullivan, said that Washington would discuss with like-minded people in the coming months which states would transfer the F-16 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.
