He U.S. government has acknowledged being “open” to training Ukrainian pilots on US soil to prepare them in management F-16 fighters, although the parties have not yet put date at the start of a program who, according to the Ukrainian authorities, has suffered various delays despite the promises made in public by some Western partners.
The F-16s have been one of kyiv’s main claims in recent months to reinforce its air capacity, but for now the delivery of fighters has been limited to the MiG-29, Soviet-made, provided by Poland and Slovakia. Washington would be waiting for a concrete plan from its European partners to detail its role, which would be limited to the training of troops.
A spokesperson for White House National Security Council John Kirbyhas clarified that the Joe Biden Administration “without a doubt” is willing for part of the training to take place on US soil, within a broader collaboration with which the United States wants to strengthen “in the long term” the ability of Ukrainian forces to deal with future threats, reports CNN.
Whatever agreement is reached in the coming weeks, there will be no immediate changes on the Ukrainian front. “It’s going to be a while until the fighters can reach Ukraine and integrate into their fleet,” Kirby acknowledged, after some sources already place this milestone in the next year.
