Provide F-16 to Ukraine? US media: The United States has not yet reached an agreement with its allies | Allies | United States
Recently, news disclosed by US media shows that the US and its allies still face many planning and execution issues in providing F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, which is likely to further delay the delivery of the fighter jet and its supporting services to Ukraine.
According to sources cited by the US newspaper Politburo, out of the first 32 Ukrainian military pilots selected for F-16 fighter training, only 8 pilots were able to communicate fluently in English, and another 20 pilots with only basic English skills will be taking language courses in the UK this month. In addition, the media also revealed that the United States has not yet reached an agreement with its allies on the details of the planned trainers, training locations, and has not officially approved the relevant applications from European countries.
In May this year, 11 NATO countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands agreed to provide Ukraine with American made F-16 fighter jets and provide corresponding training for Ukrainian pilots. Ukrainian President Zelensky has stated that he hopes the relevant training will start in August. However, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in an interview at the end of July that it would take several months to provide Ukraine with F-16 fighter planes because of the time required for fighter supply, technical maintenance, pilot training, etc. According to an internal record disclosed by the Russian satellite news agency, the training period for Ukrainian military pilots will reach 4 to 5 months.
Regarding the United States and its allies providing F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, Russia has previously stated that Western countries continuously provide weapons support to Ukraine and cannot fundamentally change the battlefield situation. Russia emphasizes that the presence of US made F-16 fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear weapons in Ukraine will be considered a nuclear threat.
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Russia has warned that delivering F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine would increase nuclear risk, while NATO countries have also revealed that there are still details to be agreed upon in training pilots and providing fighter jets. What does the internal disagreement within NATO indicate? Click on the video below to listen to Zhang Hong, a researcher at the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, analyzing ↓↓↓↓