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Zelensky says agreed with Dutch PM on supplies of 42 fighter jets

And this is just a beginning, Ukrainian President wrote

MOSCOW, August 20. /TASS/. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said on Sunday that a "breakthrough agreement" has been reached with the Netherlands on supplies of 42 F-16 fighter jets to Kiev.

"We agreed with Mark Rutte (Dutch PM - TASS) on the amount of F-16s that will be supplied to Ukraine after our pilots and engineers finish training. 42 planes. And this is just a beginning," he wrote on his Telegram channel.

According to the Ukrainskaya Pravda media outlet, Zelensky and Rutte visited the Eindhoven airbase on Sunday.

Kiev has been asking its Western allies to send F-16 fighter jets for quite a long time. According to Ukrainian presidential office head Andrey Yermak, Ukraine hopes to receives these aircraft by the end of this year. Meanwhile, Reuters said on August 17, citing its sources, that the United States had given its consent for supplies of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine from Denmark and the Netherland. The aircraft will be sent to Ukraine after the training of Ukrainian pilots is over, it said. Later, Denmark confirmed that it had received such a permit.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov said on Saturday that it will take at least six months to train Ukrainian pilots to operate F-16 fighter jets. He also said that two Ukrainian pilots had already made test flights onboard F-16s in the United States.

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Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky

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