Zelensky issues stern warning over F-16s

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the number of F-16 fighter jets his country will receive from its allies this year will not be enough to counter Russia’s air force.

“The decision to transfer F-16s to Ukraine was strategic, but their number was not strategic,” Zelenskyy said at a news conference in Kyiv on Monday.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last week that Ukraine’s NATO allies had begun transferring U.S.-made F-16s to Ukraine, declaring that the fighter jets “will fly over Ukraine this summer to ensure that Ukraine can continue to defend itself effectively against Russian aggression.”

Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium had pledged to send more than 60 fighter jets to Ukraine this summer. But Bloomberg reported on July 12, citing unnamed sources, that Ukraine may get far fewer jets this year than it had hoped — six this summer and as many as 20 by the end of 2024.

“I cannot say now how many of these aircraft will arrive. They will not be enough – why? They will certainly strengthen us, but will there be enough of these aircraft to fight on an equal footing with the Russian air fleet? I think they will not be enough. Do we expect more? Yes,” Zelensky told reporters.

On May 29, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov issued a warning to the West after Belgium pledged to deliver the first batch of F-16s to Ukraine this year. Belgium has pledged to supply Ukraine with 30 F-16s before 2028.

“They are trying to tell us that the United States and NATO will not hesitate to do anything in Ukraine. However, we hope that the ongoing Russian-Belarusian exercises on the use of non-strategic nuclear weapons will help remind our opponents of the catastrophic consequences of further nuclear escalation,” Lavrov said in an interview with the state-run RIA Novosti news agency.

“These aircraft will be destroyed, like other types of weapons that NATO countries supply to Ukraine,” Lavrov added.

Zelensky has long called on his Western allies to provide his military with advanced fighter jets to help in the war against Russia, now in its third year.

In an analysis published last month, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a U.S.-based think tank, said that with the right strategy, doctrinal approach, logistical support and training, the F-16 “could provide a decisive advance in strengthening Ukraine’s border defenses, establishing local air superiority, and significantly strengthening Ukraine’s position on the ground.”

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