President Joe Biden said on Sunday he received “categorical assurance” from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that if the West supplied Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets, they would not be used on Russian soil.
At the end of the world leaders’ meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, Biden told reporters that the F-16 jets could be used “anywhere Russian troops are located within the territory of Ukraine.”
He said it was “unlikely” that the planes would be used in a Ukrainian counter-offensive in the coming weeks, but that Ukrainian forces may need such weapons to defend against Russian forces beyond their current reach.
Biden told reporters he discussed the issue with Zelenskyy in a personal meeting. He said the F-16s would not help Ukrainian forces defend Bakhmut, but they could “make a big difference in terms of being able to handle the aftermath.”
Biden also announced a new joint effort with American partners to train Ukrainian pilots in fourth-generation fighter jets such as the F-16.
“The G7 also imposed hundreds of new sanctions and export controls on Russian assets to pressure Putin,” Biden said at a joint press conference with Zelenskyy on Sunday. “In order to hold his supporters accountable for this war, we are also imposing sanctions on them.”
The president announced the next tranche of US security assistance to Ukraine for $375 million.
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, released by the State Department on Sunday, said in a statement that under the 38th Military Assistance Program, Ukraine will receive additional HIMARS munitions, artillery munitions, anti-tank weapons, armored medical vehicles, trucks and trailers. for transporting heavy equipment, spare parts and other field equipment.
“Russia can end its war today,” Blinken said in a statement. “Until Russia does, the United States, our allies, and our partners will stand united with Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
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