US President Joe Biden, in a telephone conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir Zelensky, discussed the possibility of accelerating the delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Kyiv, the White House said.
“Presidents Biden and Zelensky discussed (…) the issues of accelerating the process of approving the transfer of F-16s by other countries to Ukraine after the completion of training ( pilots – IF ) to increase its defense capabilities,” the report says.
They also touched upon the topic of the start of training of Ukrainian pilots in the United States, the administration of the American president noted.
Biden reaffirmed that the United States will support Ukraine “for as long as it takes.”
On Thursday, Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said that the United States will start training Ukrainians to fly F-16 fighters in October, but before that, they will arrange English language courses for them in September.
The US Department of Defense also said that Washington will continue active consultations with Denmark, the Netherlands and other European allies on conducting these exercises.
Earlier Thursday, The New York Times, citing an unnamed U.S. official, reported that the Pentagon plans to start training Ukrainian pilots as early as September.
Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan said last week that the United States was ready to approve the transfer of F-16s to Ukraine from third countries after the training of Ukrainian pilots.
Source : Interfax
