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Providing F-16s to Kiev gains greater support at Pentagon — Politico

There has been no final decision

WASHINGTON, January 29. /TASS/. An idea to send F-16 fighter jets to Kiev is garnering greater support at the Pentagon, however, a final decision on the matter has not yet been made, the Politico newspaper reported on Saturday citing sources familiar with the discussion.

According to it, a number of military officials at the Pentagon are currently pushing the agency to support the delivery of these warplanes to Ukraine. According to some sources, this idea is gaining greater support. "I don’t think we are opposed," said one of the officials, stressing that there has been no final decision.

US White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said on Friday that Washington has been constantly discussing arms deliveries with Kiev, however, at the moment, there were no new announcements with regards to providing warplanes, including F-16s.

Following the decision by a number of Western countries to send tanks to Kiev, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky urged the West to send modern fighter jets as well. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said that some of his European colleagues began working on the issue of supplying Ukraine with F-16s.

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