The White House has told its allies it will not block the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, The Washington Post reports, citing a source familiar with the decision. According to him, without the approval of the United States, the allies cannot transfer the planes to Kyiv.
Ukrainian officials said in February they were making significant progress in convincing Dutch officials of the importance of handing over the F-16s, when they realized the need to get Washington’s approval. It can take up to six months for Ukrainian fighter pilots to convert to F-16 fighters.
CNN added that Washington’s new stance is due to pressure exerted on US President Joe Biden’s administration by Congress and its allies. At the same time, White House officials say they do not yet know anything about official requests to export fighter jets. The State Department told the television station that there was no order to prepare documents for the transfer of the F-16.
At the White House, a number of officials are expressing doubts about whether to supply fighter jets to Ukraine. In their opinion, Russian air defense works effectively against fighters, so Ukrainian military pilots carry out a small number of missions using the aircraft they already own.
Earlier it was reported that on the night of May 8, Russian Tu-22M3 long-range bombers launched a series of X-22 missile attacks on ammunition dumps near Odessa. In addition, aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces hit clusters of military equipment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. As a result of the actions of the Russian air force, the logistics centers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were engulfed in fire.
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