President Joe Biden dropped his reluctance to sending F-16s to Ukraine after months of pressure from Kyiv and allied governments, announcing Friday that the US would support efforts to train Ukrainian pilots to use the fighter jet.
Biden told other Group of Seven leaders of his intention to endorse the initiative at their summit in Japan. The training program should begin within weeks and take place at sites in Europe outside Ukraine, according to a senior administration official. Allies will decide later the number of jets to send or who will provide them.
The decision marks a significant turning point for the Biden administration, which had insisted for months that Ukraine had far more pressing military needs, such as artillery, missile defense and armored vehicles to repel Russian forces. It also followed a now-familiar pattern in which Biden initially resisted providing a system — be it Stinger missiles, Patriot missile-defense batteries or Abrams tanks — only to reverse course later on.
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President Volodymyr Zelenskiy — who is expected to make a surprise appearance later this week at the G-7 — has been asking for F-16s for months, saying they will play a crucial role in defending against Russian attacks and are far superior to any jets in Russia’s air force.
The Ukrainian leader even referenced the idea when he addressed a joint session of Congress late last year, portraying the issue as a symbol of America’s commitment to the country.
“I believe there should be no taboos between us in our alliance,” he said at the time. “Ukraine never asked the American soldiers to fight on our land instead of us. I assure you that Ukrainian soldiers can perfectly operate American tanks and planes themselves.”
The US had also worried that providing F-16s, built by Lockheed Martin Corp., would escalate the war with Russia. But allied nations including the UK and the Netherlands had amped up pressure to provide the jet. That’s been ccompanied by efforts to get the US to permit Ukrainian pilots to train on the aircraft.
At this point the likeliest scenario is that the US will not send Ukraine F-16s but rely on other countries to do so. Possibilities include the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark. Others such as Norway have begun to retire F-16s in anticipation of getting the more advanced F-35.
On Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called on Biden to use his trip to work with allies on providing F-16s, cluster munitions and longer-range weapons including cruise missiles to Ukraine. The Kentucky Republican has repeatedly accused the Biden administration of dithering and delays in providing weapons and has argued for an increase in Defense spending to deal with threats from Russia and China.
--With assistance from Steven T. Dennis.