Britain, Germany say US must decide on jets for Ukraine
Any decision to send F16 fighter jets to Ukraine will fall on the White House, the UK and German defense ministers said Wednesday despite a jet “coalition” announced by Britain and the Netherlands this week.
“This is up to the White House to decide whether it wants to release that technology,” British Defense Minister Ben Wallace said after talks with his German counterpart Boris Pistorius in Berlin.
“It depends on the White House... to decide whether the F16 fighter planes can be delivered,” Pistorius added.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte had agreed on the fighter jet club on the first day of a Council of Europe summit in Iceland this week.
They said they would build an “international coalition to provide Ukraine with combat air capabilities, supporting with everything from training to procuring F16 jets.”
However, Wallace pointed out that Britain has no F16 jets and also stressed that it was not planning to send anything from its Typhoon fleet.
“But we can help the pipeline... we can enable other people who wish to,” he said.
Pistorius also said Germany could not “play an active role” in such an alliance “because we don’t have the training capacity, the skills, or the aircraft.”
Chancellor Olaf Scholz also said in Iceland that he did not see any direct “requirements” for Germany when it came to fighter jets.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been pressing for fighter jets to help Ukraine repel Russia’s invasion and repeated the request on a recent tour of European capitals.
Zelensky said in London he was “very positive” about creating a “jets coalition” in the war against Russia.
“It depends on the White House... to decide whether the F16 fighter planes can be delivered,” Pistorius added.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte had agreed on the fighter jet club on the first day of a Council of Europe summit in Iceland this week.
They said they would build an “international coalition to provide Ukraine with combat air capabilities, supporting with everything from training to procuring F16 jets.”
However, Wallace pointed out that Britain has no F16 jets and also stressed that it was not planning to send anything from its Typhoon fleet.
“But we can help the pipeline... we can enable other people who wish to,” he said.
Pistorius also said Germany could not “play an active role” in such an alliance “because we don’t have the training capacity, the skills, or the aircraft.”
Chancellor Olaf Scholz also said in Iceland that he did not see any direct “requirements” for Germany when it came to fighter jets.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been pressing for fighter jets to help Ukraine repel Russia’s invasion and repeated the request on a recent tour of European capitals.
Zelensky said in London he was “very positive” about creating a “jets coalition” in the war against Russia.
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
