Ukraine will not receive modern Western fighter jets until its counter-offensive is completed, said Rob Bauer, head of the NATO Military Committee.
Bauer noted that the issue of transferring fighters to Ukraine “will not be resolved in the short term.”
“The fighter jet discussion is important, but it will not be resolved in the short term for this counter-offensive. Pilot training, training of technical personnel, providing logistics that can support these aircraft will not be available until this counter-offensive begins,” the official said.
According to him, it is “important and understandable” that Ukraine is asking for Western fighters, but “we should not confuse this with the discussion of a counter-offensive now.”
Asked if he thinks Ukraine can win a war against Russia without fighter jets, Bauer added: “I think Ukraine has an advantage because it has Western weapon systems, it has better training and, very importantly, much higher morale and motivation.”
The day before, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said that “one of the countries” promised Ukraine to start training Ukrainians on F-16 fighters last month, but this did not happen due to an error in calculations.
The issue of providing Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets was discussed at a meeting of the Contact Group on Defense Issues of Ukraine (Ramstein format) in June.
After it, it became known that before July, Ukraine’s partners plan to approve a training program for Ukrainian pilots, engineers and technicians on F-16 fighters, the exercises themselves will be held in a specially created center in one of the European countries.
According to Politico, the transfer of Western F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine may take place in early 2024.
Source : pravda
