After the meeting between the Presidents of the United States and Ukraine Joe Biden and Vladimir Zelensky, the American politician announced the promise of his Ukrainian colleague not to use F-16 warplanes in the counterattack and against targets inside Russia.
“I have received firm assurances from Zelenskiy that they will not use F-16s to cross into Russian territory, but they will be able to use them once Russian troops enter Ukraine.”
Biden said.
Also, according to him, the fighters are unlikely to participate in the upcoming counterattack of the Ukrainian troops: “Assuming that tomorrow or in a week, two, five, seven or ten will begin … the planes will take part in this scope. But if Ukraine is successful in the short term, they will step in.”
Biden noted that in this case, the targets would be Russian military headquarters in places still out of reach of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Also, the US president said that the country and its allies will train Ukrainian pilots to fly fourth-generation Western warplanes. Among them is the F-16. He did not name other types of aircraft.
Referring also to the issue of Bakhmut (Artemovsk), he said that the fighters will not be able to help the Armed Forces of Ukraine to hold the city.
When will Ukraine get the F-16?
The United States has yet to make a final decision on whether to deliver the F-16 warplanes to Ukraine, either by itself or by its allies from European countries. This was stated on Sunday in an interview with the US President’s Deputy Chief of Homeland Security, Jake Sullivan, to the CNN television channel.
“Given the number of these planes in our European allies’ stockpiles and the money Congress has allocated to us, there are many other weapons priorities. Maybe we will hand over the planes to third countries, the president hasn’t made a final decision yet,” Sullivan said.
Noting that “no name can be given to the transfer schedule” regarding the details and timing of the F-16 deliveries, Biden will discuss this issue directly with the European allies and the Ukrainian command. He stressed that the process is continuing.
Sullivan also clarified Biden’s words on the possibility of using F-16s and other weapons on Russian soil: “We said we would not allow Ukraine to use American and Western weapons to strike Russia. We also believe that Crimea is Ukraine.”
The White House has acknowledged that Washington may transfer fighters to Ukraine, with no final decision on this yet.
Transfer of fighters to the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, the United States and European countries have refused to transfer modern Western fighters to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. A week after the start of special operations, NATO members, part of the Warsaw Pact bloc and armed with Soviet aircraft, transferred their stockpiles of MiG-29 and Su-25 to Ukraine.
The situation with western fighters began to change in January when Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hustra admitted that his country was ready to consider handing over the F-16 to Ukraine. On the same day, Zelensky said that Western partners should hurry on the transfer of warplanes to Ukraine.
On May 15, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that military kingdoms would begin training Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16s in the summer. As early as 16 May, London and Amsterdam agreed to form an international coalition to supply these planes to Kiev. There is no mention of the transfer of the Eurofighter Typhoon, which is in the service of the UK.
On May 19, Politico reported, citing a senior U.S. administration official, that Biden had declared the United States’ readiness to support international efforts to train Ukrainian pilots to fly modern Western warplanes, including the F-16.
On May 20, Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of Zelensky’s office, said that Western countries actually made the final decision on the transfer of F-16s:
“Just as on the eve of the creation of a tank coalition, two very intensely discussed issues remained. These are the decisions accepted in practice by the West. I want you to understand – countries have made a decision. They already know that all these weapons, including the F-16, will be given to us.”
In July 2022, the US House of Representatives passed a bill allocating $100 million to train Ukrainian Armed Forces pilots to fly American F-15s and F-16s.