Minister of Defence of the Netherlands: "Ukraine will receive the first F-16s this summer, and there will be more and more of them"
Ukrainians can also strike at military targets on the other side of the border if necessary for self-defence, she said
The head of the Dutch Ministry of Defence, Keesa Ollongren, said that Ukraine will receive the first F-16 fighter jets from Western allies this summer.
"After that, the supply will be put on stream. There will be more and more planes, and this will strengthen your Air Force," Ollongren said in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda.
She added that Denmark would be the first to send fighter jets to Ukraine, followed by the Netherlands, "but this is a joint effort."
Ollongren said she could not give an exact date for the delivery of the aircraft, noting that "everything is going according to plan."
"Together with our partners – Ukrainians, Danes, Americans, etc. – we are moving very fast. No one has ever conducted training on F-16s as fast as we are doing," said Ollongren.
She stressed that Ukraine will have the right to use them to strike military targets in Russia.
"When you get the fighter jets, only your military will decide how to use them. You are waging a war against the aggressor. This is self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter. We have always said: as long as Ukraine repels the attack and adheres to international humanitarian law, you can also strike at military targets on the other side of the border if necessary for self-defence," the minister said.
In May, Belgian Foreign Minister Aja Labib said that the first F-16s from Belgium were to arrive in Ukraine by the end of the year.
Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway have promised to provide Ukraine with about 60 F-16 fighters. According to Western media, the Ukrainian Armed Forces will receive them in several batches over time and will not be able to put all the planes into action at once, as pilot training is slower than Kyiv would like.
Background. Politico recently reported that Ukraine is unhappy with the slow pilot training for F-16s, saying that the US does not have enough places to train Ukrainian pilots because other countries are lining up for the slots.
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