HIROSHIMA /Japan/, May 21. /TASS/. US President Joe Biden said on Sunday he is sure that F-16 fighter jets would not have helped the Ukrainian army in Artyomovsk.

"With regard to the F 16, F 16 would not have helped in that regard at all," hwe told a news conference in Hiroshima, which is hosting the Group of Seven summit. "It was unnecessary <…> would not have any additional added consequence."

According to Biden, Ukrainian troops have everything necessary, "from the significant missile defense systems, sophisticated tanks and the like all the things that are of consequence in the near term <…> They now have all that equipment."

He also said that the Ukrainian army is unlikely to use fighter jets in its counteroffensive. "I don't expect the F 16s to take part," he said, adding that "it's not highly unlikely" that F-16 would be used if the offensive starts in "two or five or seven or 10 days." "But it will take place in the context if they're successful in the near term," he noted.

The Russian defense ministry said on Saturday that as a result of an offensive staged by Wagner PMC assault units supported by the artillery and aircraft of the South battlegroup, the city of Artyomovsk. Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Wagner and regular troops on the city’s liberation.

Located in the northern part of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), Artyomovsk used to be a major transport and logistics hub for Ukrainian troops in Donbass. Fierce fighting for control of the city began in August 2022.