BRUSSELS, June 14. /TASS/. NATO defense ministers will discuss training of Ukrainian pilots during the upcoming meeting in Brussels, because this will create an option to ship F-16 jets to Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said during a press conference Wednesday.

"I expect that the training for [Ukrainian] pilots will be an issue that would be addressed also tomorrow at the meeting of the contact group," Stoltenberg said. "That provides us with option to deliver the [F-16] planes."

On May 25, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced that Denmark and the Netherlands will lead a European coalition on training of Ukrainian pilots in use of F-16 jets.

On May 21, US President Joe Biden announced after the G7 summit in Hiroshima that the West will begin training Ukrainian pilots in use of fourth-generation planes, including the F-16. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan stated back then that Washington would discuss with allies which countries would ship F-16 jets to Kiev.