Washington.
Will the US supply F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine in the fight against Russia? No, is Joe Biden’s short answer.
A single word from the American President is sometimes enough to dominate the headlines. In this case, it’s Joe Biden’s curt “No” to a reporter’s question about whether the U.S. will let Ukraine (like the government in Kyiv almost beseech it for days) fight Russia fighter jets of the F-16 type will be delivered.
Biden did not explain his rejection; also because he was confronted with the topic between door and hinge while passing the White House. There was also no time for obvious questions. For example, whether the “No” has an unlimited shelf life. Or whether there could be war constellations in which one could talk about it. And whether Biden would actively oppose other countries in the alliance against Russian President Vladimir Putin handing over such aircraft from their stocks to the Ukraine wanted to pass on.
War in Ukraine: US refuses to supply fighter jets
Poland for example, this had come into play soon after the start of the war, almost a year ago. And in the past few weeks, the government in Warsaw has repeatedly shown willingness to help the war-torn neighboring country with the US fighter jets that have been manufactured by the armaments giant Lockheed for 40 years, provided NATO approves this.
“Hard to imagine,” say experts close to the government’s Democrats, that Joe Biden’s upcoming trip to Poland (possibly around the first anniversary of the war on February 24) would straddle the host’s legs on the matter.
Biden is generally expected to provide the context for his speech in front of both houses of Congress no later than when he delivers his State of the Union address on February 7th refusal after that, after having battle tanks on the ground, the Ukraine should also be upgraded in the air in order to ward off Russian attacks more effectively and to revise Russian gains in territory. In perspective, mind you. According to the US military, no US Abrams tanks (which Biden had initially ruled out for a long time) will not be able to roll in the Donbass before autumn 2023.
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War: Clear guidelines for arms delivery
Both F-16say Pentagon experts, the situation is that pilots have to be trained on the fighter jets for at least six months before a mission makes sense.
So far, the Washington government has had clear stipulations as to what should or should not be delivered weapon systems avoided as much as possible. The tenor of all statements by Secretary of State Blinken, Secretary of Defense Austin and President Biden has been the sole focus on what Ukraine can use as soon as possible to keep its military capabilities robust against Russia.
The only real “red line” is still Biden’s early promise that no US soldiers actively intervene on the ground in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
Anyway. For the time being, Biden’s one-word no policy provides support for Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who clearly rejected Kiev’s vehement demands for fighter jets during his trip to South America.
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