F-16s for Ukraine still not on table: White House
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US President Joe Biden has ruled out multiple times Ukraine's request to be provided with F-16s.
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Danish Royal Air Force F-16 fighter jet during the welcome ceremony for the reinforcement of the NATO Air Policing Mission at the Siauliai military air force base some 230 km (144 miles) east of the capital Vilnius, Lithuania, Friday, Jan. 28, 2022 (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said on Monday that the supply of F-16 fighter jets for Ukraine is still not considered by Washington and that the US stance on the matter has remained unchanged.
"The President has already spoken to F-16s, as you all know, and nothing has changed. What the President has said, it is not on the table for now," Jean-Pierre told reporters.
US President Joe Biden has ruled out multiple times Ukraine's request to be provided with F-16s.
On January 31, Biden stressed his first "no" to sending the jets to Ukraine.
On February 7, Biden said during a briefing at the White House that he is determined to keep F-16 fighter jets in the US instead of sending them to Ukraine.
When asked why he took that decision, Biden said without any further clarification: “Because we should keep them here. That’s a totally different situation.”
Read more: Poland sets condition to supply F-16s to Kiev: Coordination with NATO
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 adviser 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.
Read more: Biden insists on not sending F-16 jets to Ukraine
