The UK and Dutch governments have committed to working together on obtaining advanced F16 fighter jets for Ukraine.
An “international coalition” aimed at securing F16 fighter jets for Ukraine is to be kick-started by the UK and Dutch governments, reports on Wednesday have said.
It comes only a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed confidence that the country would be handed a large number of fighter jets very soon, having seemingly abandoned ambitions for UK-built supersonic planes in favour of the more common F16 platform.
According to a report by The Guardian, authorities in both Britain and the Netherlands have committed to helping Zelensky to obtain his desired planes, with both governments reportedly aiming to persuade other Western nations to hand over their fighters to the invaded country.
UK authorities are also reportedly working on obtaining a large number of attack drones for the Zelensky administration, with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also committing to having British forces train Ukrainian fighter pilots.
Responding to the announcement, senior Ukrainian officials close to the country’s President expressed delight, once again emphasising how much they need to be gifted jet fighters by the West.
“We need F-16s, and I am grateful to our allies for their decision to work in this direction, including training our pilots,” Andriy Yermak, the head of President Zelensky’s office.
It remains unclear as of writing what kind of time frame Sunak and Rutte are expecting to hand over F16s to Ukrainian forces. The Netherlands does at least have F16s to give — pending permission from the United States — unlike the United Kingdom, which has never operated the airframe.
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