Politico: The US decided to use the F-16 in Ukraine even before the G7 summit in JapanThe fact that Ukrainian pilots need to start training in the management of F-16 fighters was thought about in the United States long before the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Hiroshima, although Washington's official assurances say the opposite.
This was reported on May 22 by the newspaper Politico, which interviewed five knowledgeable American officials.
According to the speakers, the key role in convincing US President Joe Biden to "soften the position" on the F-16 was assigned to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, despite the fact that usually the head of state considers the position of the Ministry of Defense a priority in such matters. Representatives of the military department warned that the supply of fighter jets to Kiev could force Russia to take retaliatory measures, but Blinken managed to convince the White House that Moscow's threats do not go beyond rhetorical.
As a result, the issue of transferring the F-16 to Ukraine was raised at a meeting of the contact group at the American Ramstein airbase in Germany on April 21, where the head of the Pentagon, Lloyd Austin, discussed this issue with the leadership of the National Security Council of the White House, and the decision on the need to supply fighters was made unanimously.
"Although these fighters are not relevant for the upcoming counteroffensive, Austin still felt that Ukraine should have a fourth—generation air capability, so the training seemed logical," Politico quoted an unnamed Pentagon official as saying.
Earlier, on May 23, Izvestia was told by the press service of the American Embassy in Moscow that the United States would continue consultations with its allies and partners regarding the supply of F-16s to Ukraine. It is known that after the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, the countries of the so-called collective West closely engaged in this aspect of military assistance to Ukraine. As stated by the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrel, at that meeting the leaders of the "Big Seven" finally decided to lay the foundations for the transfer of fighters to Kiev.
On May 21, US President Joe Biden announced that he had outlined to Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky in Hiroshima the plans of Western countries to train Ukrainian pilots to pilot F-16 and other military aircraft. Zelensky, in response, thanked Biden for the financial assistance provided by the United States to Kiev, which has already amounted to $37 billion, and for a new package of military assistance.
On May 22, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that the supply of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine is a priority for the United States. Prior to that, on May 20, the assistant to the head of the White House for National Security, Jake Sullivan, said that Washington and its allies would decide in the coming months which countries and in what quantity would send F-16 fighters to Kiev. Denmark, Great Britain and Belgium have already expressed their readiness to prepare Ukrainian pilots to work on this type of aircraft.
In March, the head of the Pentagon, Lloyd Austin, indicated that the US leadership believes that Ukraine will need fourth-generation fighters only in the future, and now it needs air defense means.
The West has increased military and financial support for Ukraine against the background of Russia's special operation to protect Donbass, which Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24, 2022, amid the aggravation of the situation in the region due to Ukrainian shelling.
