UK and Germany pressuring US to decide on F-16 fighter jets for Ukraine

The leaders of the United Kingdom and Germany said on Wednesday that the United States must make a decision on warplanes for Ukraine as the war with Russia drags on.

Under pressure from journalists over why key NATO allies have not sent F-16s to Ukraine, opting instead to allow allies like Poland to send Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets, the defense minister German Boris Pistorius said the decision ultimately rests with “the white House government.”

Alongside his British counterpart, Ben Wallace, Pistorius said the highly coveted F-16s that Kyiv has long demanded are US-made and therefore Washington must “decide whether F-16 fighter planes can be delivered”. DW output.

United Kingdom Germany

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, right, and his British counterpart Ben Wallace deliver a statement after their meeting at the German Defense Ministry, in Berlin, Wednesday, May 17, 2023. (Wolfgang Kumm/dpa via AP)

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“We cannot play an active role in such an alliance, in such a coalition, because we have neither the training capabilities, nor the expertise, nor the aircraft,” he added.

The comments came just a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and addressed the item at the top of Kiev’s wish list: air combat support.

Sunak, together with Dutch leader Mark Rutte, is organizing a “coalition of fighter jets” to help Kiev procure F-16s.

Zelensky Sunak

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (left) welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (right) at Checkers, the prime minister’s official residence in Aylesbury, UK, May 15, 2023. (Ukrainian Presidency/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

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Although London has said it will not send warplanes to Ukraine’s front lines, it has pledged to train Ukrainians with the most advanced airborne equipment.

“It is up to the White House to decide whether it wants to release that technology,” Wallace told reporters Wednesday, noting that the UK has no F-16s and is not considering sending aircraft from its Typhoon fleet, DW reported. “We don’t have F-16 pilots, but we can help the pipeline.”

“What is really important here is to signal to Russia that we as nations have no philosophical principled objection to providing Ukraine with the capabilities it needs depending on what is happening, on the battlefield,” he added.

An enlarged photo of an F 16 fighter

The AF 16 fighter aircraft participates in the NATO Air Shielding exercise near Lask Air Base in central Poland on October 12, 2022. (RADOSLAW JOZWIAK/AFP via Getty Images)

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The United States has said it does not intend to send F-16s to Ukraine, although it has previously capitulated on sending some wartime capabilities, such as tanks.

The German defense minister’s comments on Wednesday recall the stance taken by Berlin in January, when it said it would not agree to send tanks to Kiev unless the United States did too, citing concerns about the escalation of the war.

The United States finally agreed to send its M1 Abrams tanks in a move to push Germany to send its much-needed Leopard 2 tanks, despite previously cited concerns about maintenance and upkeep costs on manufacturing advanced tanks. American.

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