Training on F-16s was supposed to start in June, "the schedule is starting to shift" – Ukraine's Foreign Minister
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, said that "one of the countries" promised Ukraine to start training Ukrainians on F-16 fighter jets last month, but due to an error in calculations, this did not happen.
Source: Kuleba on air of the national joint 24/7 newscast
Kuleba admitted that earlier he was confident that Ukraine would receive the fighter jets "in the first months of next year" given that F-16 training was to begin in June.
"Training did not start in June. This means that the schedule is starting to shift... We are now working with all the parties involved, with all the countries participating in the aviation coalition, to speed up this process as much as possible," he said.
The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained that it is a very complicated process: training of pilots and engineers, preparation of infrastructure, "making the necessary legal decisions, in fact, about the transfer of aircraft."
"The training did not start. There was a promise to start the training in June from one of the countries, now they say that they are continuing preparations for the start of the training, they made a mistake in the calculations, they need more time. But we do not have time, so we are speeding everything up as much as possible", he concluded.
Background:
- The issue of providing Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets was discussed during the meeting of the Contact Group on Defence of Ukraine ("Ramstein" format) in June.
- After it, it became known that by July Ukraine’s partners plan to approve the training program for Ukrainian pilots, engineers and technicians on F-16 fighter jets; the training itself will take place in a specially created centre in one of the European countries.
- According to Politico, the delivery of Western F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine may take place in early 2024.
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