The first F-16 fighters for Ukraine, donated by Denmark and the Netherlands, are already on their way and will be able to begin carrying out missions in the invaded country this summer, according to what Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State, revealed on Wednesday at the NATO summit in Washington. The announcement, which follows the previous night’s announcement about the shipment of new Patriot batteries, came just before the start of the formal sessions of the Alliance summit, a meeting that has as its top priority supporting Ukraine with tangible measures, having ruled out for now the possibility of offering it formal entry into the Euro-Atlantic organization.
“All NATO members are committed to doing their part to keep the Alliance strong,” US President Joe Biden said in a statement at the start of the first plenary session. The US had already been hinting that an announcement on the deployment of the fighters would be made throughout the summit. The purpose of these planes, equipped with a 20-millimetre cannon and capable of carrying bombs, rockets and missiles, will be to try to prevent the air strikes that Russia has been launching in its latest offensive against Ukrainian troops on the front line. The F-16 fighters could also be used to intercept Iranian-made Shahed drones and Russian cruise missiles.
Speaking to reporters, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the allies would agree on “substantial” assistance for Ukraine, including a new NATO command for the targeted country, to be based in Germany and focused on training and coordinating security assistance.
A draft of the allies’ final statement, seen by Reuters, said the allies planned to provide a minimum of 40 billion euros in military aid for Ukraine next year. That is similar to this year’s amount but falls short of Stoltenberg’s proposals for a multi-year commitment.
According to a White House statement released after Blinken’s announcement, the governments of Denmark and the Netherlands will donate American F-16s, with Washington’s support. “The process of transferring these fighters is already underway and Ukraine will have operational F-16s to fly with this summer,” says the document, also signed by the prime ministers of the two European countries, Mette Frederiksen and Dick Schoof, respectively.
Denmark has pledged to send a total of 19 aircraft, while the Netherlands will send 24. The text adds that “Belgium and Norway have also pledged to provide more fighters” of this type to Ukraine. Oslo announced on Wednesday that it will donate six F-16s and will begin delivering them later this year. The four allies that have approved the delivery of fighter aircraft to Ukraine – which so far only has a few Soviet-made ones – have F-35 fighters in their armed forces, which are more modern than the F-16s they will donate to kyiv.
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This concludes a process of arduous political negotiations for the transfer of dozens of these aircraft, which has lasted for months and has developed in parallel with the training process of Ukrainian pilots capable of handling these aircraft.
Strengthening Ukraine’s air defenses has been a major goal of the Allied countries since the beginning of the war, but especially since Russia’s spring offensive, which allowed it to seize more of its neighboring country’s territory, and after the United States approved — months late — the resumption of its military aid to kyiv. Russia’s air strikes on Ukraine’s power grid have caused serious disruptions to supplies.
In a speech marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of the alliance, US President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced a “historic donation” of anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine, including four additional Patriot batteries and components to build another, as well as dozens of other tactical systems for defending against air attacks. More similar announcements of additional equipment shipments are expected to follow during the summit. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said last week that he aimed to double his country’s air defence capability, estimating the number of Patriot batteries needed at “at least seven.”
“They will help us to better protect Ukrainians”
In a statement on the social network X, Zelensky expressed his gratitude on Wednesday to the allies who will improve the Ukrainian army’s air capabilities. “The F-16s will also be used to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense. I am confident that they will help us better protect Ukrainians from brutal Russian attacks, such as this week’s attack on the Okhmedit pediatric hospital in Kiev. I believe that our coalition for air capabilities will be further strengthened with the addition of new participants… Our teams continue to work in Washington to close agreements that will strengthen Ukraine’s defensive capacity,” the Ukrainian president added.
In Russia, Kremlin spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the deployment of the F-16s showed that “Washington is leading a military mafia.” Russian President Vladimir Putin had previously warned that if these planes were used from airfields in third countries, they would “become a legitimate target.”
The summit on Wednesday will address its first plenary session on aid to the invaded country, before turning its attention to Asia-Pacific with an expanded meeting that will also include representatives of the so-called “Indo-Pacific Four”: Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. The draft seen by Reuters includes a harsh reference to China, which it accuses of being a “necessary collaborator” in Russia’s war effort in Ukraine — the United States and its allies denounce that it facilitates dual-use exports (civilian and military) — and considers that Beijing continues to present systemic challenges to security in Europe and the Atlantic.
On Thursday, the allies will return to the Ukraine issue at their final session, after which Biden will meet with representatives of countries that have signed bilateral defense agreements with Ukraine. The US president also plans to meet with Zelensky, before holding a press conference after the summit closes.
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