US to support supply of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine

US President Joe Biden told G7 leaders this Friday (May 19, 2023) that the country will support a joint effort with allies to train Ukrainian pilots in 4th generation aircraft, including F-16 fighters . The information is from BBC.

Biden, who is attending the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, said the United States “will support a joint effort” with its allies to conduct training aimed at further strengthening and improving the capabilities of the Ukrainian Air Force, a White House official said.

Training will take place outside of Ukraine at selected locations in Europe. The US will participate in the training alongside allies. The expectation is that the activity will start in the “coming weeks” and take several months to complete.

“As training takes place over the coming months, our coalition of countries participating in this effort will decide when to actually supply jets, how many we will supply and who will supply them”, said the official. Previously, Biden had already placed the supply of F-16 planes to Ukraine as “impracticable”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reacted in a Twitter post hailing the “A historic decision by the United States to support an international fighter coalition”.

I welcome the historic decision of the United States and @POTUS to support an international fighter jet coalition. This will greatly enhance our army in the sky. I count on discussing the practical implementation of this decision at the #G7 summit in Hiroshima.

— Volodymyr Zelensky (@ZelenskyyUa) May 19, 2023

Zelensky, will travel to Japan to attend the G7 summit in Hiroshima. He is expected to be in the country on Sunday (May 21, 2023).

G7

This Friday (May 19), the G7 summit begins in Hiroshima, Japan. The Group of 7 is made up of some of the world’s largest economies: Germany, Canada, the United States, France, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) was one of the guests this year.

The war in Ukraine will be one of the main subjects of the event. Earlier, new sanctions against Russia were announced. The objective is to leave the country of Vladimir Putin with no alternative to obtain equipment, in addition to trimming previous sanctions circumvented by the Russians. A peace deal with the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity is also to be discussed.