Secretary of State Blinken played a decisive role in the decision to provide Ukraine with F-16s – WP
He also took part in the winter negotiations on providing Ukraine with Abrams tanks
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken was the main force behind and the most influential lobbyist for the decision to provide Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets from the arsenal of allied countries.
Source. This was reported by The Washington Post, citing sources in the White House.
According to the sources, Blinken played the same decisive role in the winter, when Germany was hesitant to send tanks to Kyiv.
WP notes that it was the secretary of state who convinced the White House to start the process of transferring American Abrams tanks, despite the Pentagon's resistance. Subsequently, this allowed European allies to join these deliveries.
In addition, according to the sources, the White House's agreement to provide Kyiv with F-16 fighter jets was the result of pressure from NATO allies, the US Congress, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky personally.
For a long time, US President Joe Biden did not agree to transfer American fighter jets to Ukraine. In addition, because of Washington's position, European countries could not even train Ukrainian pilots on F-16s.
At the same time, The Washington Post notes that the delivery of combat aircraft may not be as fast as Ukraine expects.
The Northern European countries that have F-16s and agree to provide them to Ukraine – the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, and Poland – need time to check their arsenals and resources to train pilots.
Earlier it was reported that Ukraine needs about 180 modern fighter jets to gain an advantage over russia in the air.
Background. As a reminder, the United States says it agrees to transfer F-16s to Ukraine "only if they are not used in russia."
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