TORZHOK /Tver Region/, March 28. /TASS/. Potential supplies of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine will not change the situation on the battlefield, since Russia will destroy them as it is doing with Western tanks and other vehicles, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"If they supply F-16 jets, they say that pilots are being trained, it will not change the situation on the battlefield. And we will destroy warplanes as we are destroying tanks, armored vehicles and other weapons, including multiple launch missile systems," he said at a meeting with military pilots in the Tver Region.
Ukraine has long been asking its Western partners to supply F-16 fighter jets, but the West has consistently maintained that such planes could not be transferred to Ukraine until Kiev’s pilots and ground crews underwent relevant training. Several countries have said that they are ready to take part in programs for the training of Ukrainian pilots. Thus, the Pentagon said in late September that the training of Ukrainian pilots had already begun in Denmark.
However, Kiev’s partners note that the role of F-16 jets should not be overestimated. According to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, these warplanes cannot change the situation in the zone of combat operation, although they will enhance Ukraine’s combat capabilities.