The Dutch government will prepare 18 F-16 fighter jets for delivery to Ukraine. This was announced on Twitter by Prime Minister Mark Rutte. He informed the government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about this decision during a telephone conversation.
Rutte called the transfer of F-16s one of the most important parts of the agreements on military support for Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression.
However, Rutte noted that first, it is necessary to finalize the preparation of export permits from the United States (as the country of origin) and fulfill a number of other criteria, including in the field of training and infrastructure.
In turn, Dutch Defense Minister Keesa Ollongen expressed confidence that US-made fighters would strengthen the Ukrainian Air Force.
The Prime Minister also stated that he was impressed with Ukraine's progress on its way to the European Union and assured that the Netherlands would do everything possible to ensure that new agreements on Ukraine's European integration are adopted at the European Council meeting in February next year.
The transfer of a large number of fighter jets to Ukraine is due to the fact that the Dutch Air Force is switching to F-35s, after which there will be no need to operate F-16s.
In early November, a center for training Ukrainian pilots to operate F-16s was opened at the Fetesti air base in Romania. In the same month, the first 5 fighters were sent to the training center.
The training of Ukrainians is expected to last several months. So far, three NATO member states – the Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway – have promised to provide Ukraine with these aircraft.
Background. As a reminder, President Zelenskyy announced today that the Netherlands is preparing to deliver the first batch of F-16s to Ukraine.