Biden supports advanced jets for Ukraine: White House source

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
19 May 19:49

The US President approves sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine after balking at doing so for months now.

A Danish F16 fighter jet demonstrates the interception of a Belgian air force transport plane as they fly over Denmark, January 14, 2020. (Reuters)

US President Joe Biden told G7 leaders that Washington will endorse supplying advanced warplanes including F-16s to Ukraine and will support efforts to train Kiev's pilots, a senior White House official said Friday.

Biden said the United States "will support a joint effort with our allies and partners to train Ukrainian pilots on fourth-generation fighter aircraft, including F-16s, to further strengthen and improve the capabilities of the Ukrainian Air Force," the official revealed.

"As the training takes place over the coming months, our coalition of countries participating in this effort will decide when to actually provide jets, how many we will provide, and who will provide them," they added.

It is worth noting that the Ukrainian President has been desperate for fighter jets, repeatedly pushing for advanced Western jets, but Kiev's international supporters had balked at doing so until recently.

"We have freedom, give us wings to protect it," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told UK Members of Parliament as he toured European countries in the hope of securing fighter jets back in February.

From “Nay!” to “Yay"

Following Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to Europe this week, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands announced a so-called "international coalition" to obtain US-made F-16s and train Ukrainian pilots and crews.

In a TV interview on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron said there were "no taboos" about training Ukrainian pilots in France, turning the attention to the US, which must approve the deployment of any F-16s to Ukraine.

It is worth noting that US President Joe Biden has previously ruled against supplying F-16s to Ukraine, citing concerns that training pilots and ground staff would take months and that providing them to Ukraine may be perceived by the Russians as an escalatory move.

On February 24, Biden said that the possibility of the US providing Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets was off the table "for now."

On February 26, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told CNN that "F-16 is a question for a later time and that is why President Biden said that for now, he is not moving forward with those."

Politico said in January that US officials are reportedly more concerned with Ukraine's dwindling missile stockpiles for air defense systems at the moment. The DoD official involved in the discussions warned that if Ukraine ran out of its arsenal, Russia's advanced fighter jets would come to dominate the country's airspace and Kiev would "not be able to compete."

Meanwhile, some Pentagon officials argue that the Ukrainian forces have a more pressing need for "traditional" air defense systems — including Patriots and National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) — rather than F-16s, which may "take months" to arrive.