MOSCOW, August 22. /TASS/. The minimum period in which Kiev will be able to receive F-16 fighter jets from Western partners is at least six months, Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov said.

"I think that six to seven months is the minimum estimated period. But if it is be a little more, don’t be disappointed," RBC Ukraine quoted him as saying.

The minister added that not only pilots, but also ground service personnel, technicians and engineers, a total of several hundred people, must be trained to work with these aircraft. It is difficult to estimate how long it will take, he added.

Kiev has long called on Western allies to hand over F-16 jets to Ukraine, insisting on the creation of an "aircraft coalition." Head of the Ukrainian Presidential Administration Andrey Yermak said that Kiev expects to receive the jets by the end of the year. On August 20, the country's president Vladimir Zelensky said there was a "breakthrough agreement" with Amsterdam for the delivery of 42 F-16 fighter jets. Denmark also said it was ready to transfer 19 F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, six of which will arrive before the New Year. Denmark and the Netherlands have already announced the training of Ukrainian pilots, which will be supported by nine other countries. In July, Acting Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said that the training would begin in August in Skrydstrup in southern Jutland. It is expected to last at least six months.

At the same time, the NBC TV channel reported the day before, citing Ukrainian officials, that Kiev is "upset and confused" about the delays in the delivery of F-16 fighter jets, but Ukraine does not dare to make public statements to that effect. At the same time, according to NBC, the delay is not related to technical aspects, but to the political blocking of this decision.