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US President Joe Biden told G7 leaders on Friday that Washington supports a joint effort with allies to train Ukrainian pilots with F-16 fighter jets, a senior administration official said, a major endorsement as Kyiv seeks to boost air power against Russian offensive forces.
Training on the US-made jet will take place in Europe and will take months to complete, the official said. US officials have estimated the fastest time needed for training and delivery of the F-16 at 18 months.
“As the exercise takes place in a few months, the coalition of countries involved in this effort will decide when to provide the jets, how many to provide, and who will provide them,” the official said.
The official did not say which countries would participate in the effort. The U.S. hopes to begin the exercises, which will be conducted in fourth-generation fighters including the F-16, in the coming weeks, the official said.
Ukraine is looking for the jets, made by Lockheed Martin, as it continues to make its biggest advance in months against attacking Russian forces ahead of a planned counter-attack.
Retired Admiral Mike Mullen, former chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he thought it was only a matter of time before the West provided fighter jets to Ukraine to help the country defend its airspace.
Ukraine, which has no Western-designed jets, says the F-16 is more effective than the Soviet-era fighters it currently has. Poland and Slovakia have handed over 27 MiG-29s to augment Ukraine’s current fleet.
Western governments have been wary of leaving their countries alone by giving them too much equipment. He also avoided sending anything that could invade Russian territory and give Moscow an excuse to escalate the war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy received a pledge this week from Britain and the Netherlands to help build a “jet coalition”, although leaders from both countries stopped short of saying they would send planes.
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