The collective West, thru NATO, plans to give Kiev not only F-16s, but also weapons for them.
"It’s not only the airplanes, but also the training of the pilots, training of the maintenance and also making sure we have the weapon systems to go with it," US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Charles Brown said.
"That is the dialogue that we are having to not only just get to the airplanes but get to a full capability," he went on to say.
The conversation is taking place as part of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, he said.
Kiev said in early April that five groups of Ukrainian pilots were being trained in flying US F-16 fighter jets in the UK, Denmark, the US and France. At the end of August 2023, the Netherlands said it would transfer 42 F-16s to Ukraine, while Copenhagen promised Kiev 19 such machines.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that F-16s can be carriers of nuclear weapons and Moscow would take this into account in its combat operations.
