Together with my British, Danish and Belgian colleagues, we welcome the news that the United States is ready to approve the training of Ukrainian pilots for the F-16 fighter jets, Rutte wrote in a post published on Twitter.
He added that the details would be worked out in the coming weeks. He also emphasized that Ukraine can count on the support of the Netherlands and its international partners.
As we reported on Friday, Joe Biden supports training Ukrainian pilots to fly American-made F-16 fighter jets. The US president announced at the G7 leaders’ meeting in Hiroshima that he had approved the training, which is expected to take place in Europe in the coming months.
The White House made this decision because the US Congress kept the president under constant pressureciting that the increased activity of the Russian air force poses an increasing threat to Ukraine.
At the same time, CNN also points out that none of Ukraine’s supporters have yet indicated through official channels that they want to give F-16s to the besieged country, and the United States still does not want to give its own fighter bombers to Kiev.
IN EUROPE, BELGIAN, DUTCH, DENMARK, GREEK, POLAND, PORTUGAL, TURKISH AND ROMANIAN AIR FORCES CURRENTLY USE F-16s.
Rutte’s post on Twitteraccording to which they welcome the decision of the United States together with their British, Danish and Belgian colleagues it may be significant because it may be a hint that the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark may be among the countries that will hand over their own fighter jets to Ukraine.
Cover image source: Getty Images
