TOKYO, June 5. /TASS/. Ukraine won’t be able to use F-16 fighter jets during its counteroffensive this summer because time is needed to train pilots and personnel, however, Ukraine should be ready to deploy them in the fall or winter, Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov said in an interview with the NHK TV channel.

The F-16s "will not be game changing this summer," he said replying to a question as to whether the fighter jets will be engaged in the counteroffensive, adding that Ukraine would use all its ground-based equipment.

According to Reznikov, it will take time to train Ukrainian pilots as well as secure engineers and technicians who can maintain and repair the fighter jets. He noted that Ukraine would be ready to deploy the F-16s in the autumn or winter.

On May 25, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that Denmark and the Netherlands would lead a European coalition on training Ukrainian pilots to use the F-16s. On May 21, US President Joe Biden announced that the West would start training Ukrainian pilots to fly fourth-generation fighters, including F-16s. That said, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan noted that in the coming months, Washington would discuss with like-minded countries which of them would hand over the F-16s to Kiev.