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Western supplies of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine may begin in early 2024 — newspaper

The most probable candidates to supply the jets are the Netherlands and Denmark, who are leading the initiative to train Ukrainian pilots, the article says

WASHINGTON, June 23. /TASS/. Western allies may begin sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine in early 2024, the Politico newspaper said on Thursday, citing sources close to NATO.

According to the sources, allies are still discussing when such supplies are to begin, but some officials say this may happen in the first months of next year. It also remains to be seen which countries will transfer fighter jets to Ukraine. The most probable candidates are the Netherlands and Denmark, who are leading the initiative to train Ukrainian pilots. However, thus far, no concrete decision on this matter has been made.

US President Joe Biden told a news conference after the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima on May 21 that the West planned to begin training Ukrainian pilots, including on the use of F-16s. White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, in turn, said that Washington and its allies would discuss the list of potential countries who could deliver F-16s to Kiev in the next few months.

Commenting on the West’s plans to supply F-16s to Ukraine, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said earlier that Western countries continued to follow the path of escalating the Ukrainian conflict and Russia would take this into account in its further plans.

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