A programme to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets is to begin in Romania this summer, it was announced at a Nato summit, a step towards providing the air force Kyiv has appealed for to prevent Russian bombing of its cities.
The Netherlands and Denmark began the initiative to train Ukrainian pilots, and eight other countries have since stepped in to offer their support, Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg told reporters at the summit in Lithuania.
“What allies have informed us is that training will start this summer,” Mr Stoltenberg said. “This will then enable a later decision also to provide F-16s. Training starts as soon as possible, and based on that decisions will be made on supplying fighter jets.”
Developed in the United States, the ultrafast fighter jets have the ability to attack other aircraft as well as targets on the ground, and their export is strictly controlled.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has long appealed for supportive countries to provide the aircraft to help Kyiv fight off the Russian invasion, but they have complex maintenance as well as flying requirements, and no country has yet committed to supplying them.
Turkey has also long lobbied the United States to be allowed to purchase 40 of the Lockheed Martin-made F-16s, and achieved a breakthrough at the summit as United States national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters that US president Joe Biden “supported” the transfer to Turkey without “caveats or conditions”.
This came a day after Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan dropped his opposition to allowing Sweden to join Nato, though US officials have been careful not to link the two developments as a trade-off.
Mr Stoltenberg said the agreement to allow Sweden to join Nato made it a “historic” summit.
[ Volodymyr Zelenskiy attacks Nato compromise on Ukraine membershipOpens in new window ]
[ Biden promises Zelenskiy swift military aid as the pair meet at NATO summitOpens in new window ]
There was disappointment for the Ukrainian delegation, however, as it had hoped to secure an invitation to join Nato or at least a firm timeline within which it would be offered an invitation.
An agreement between the 31 Nato members to extend an invitation to Ukraine “when allies agree and conditions are met” fell significantly short of these hopes.
The G7 major economies also released a joint declaration pledging “enduring support for Ukraine”, including continued provision of military equipment, training and intelligence to ensure Ukraine has an army capable of defending the country now and deterring Russian aggression in the future.
Mr Zelenskiy put a brave face on the situation, saying that taken together the commitments amounted to “sort of a security umbrella”.
“The best guarantee for Ukraine is to be in Nato,” he told reporters. “I’m confident that after the war Ukraine will be in Nato. We’ll be doing everything possible to make it happen.”
His earlier criticism of Nato’s failure to offer Ukraine a timeline to accession drew an angry response on Wednesday from British defence secretary Ben Wallace. “You know, we’re not Amazon,” he said, adding, in reference to the military support already being provided to Ukraine: “Whether we like it or not, people want to see gratitude.” Mr Zelenskiy responded: “I believe that we were always grateful to the United Kingdom, we were always grateful to the prime minister, and to the minister of defence.”
Ukraine’s president also defended a decision by the US to agree to a request from Ukraine to send cluster munitions, which have been banned by more than 100 countries because of their potential to harm civilians.
“I want to look at this from another perspective, from a perspective of fairness. Russia is constantly using cluster munitions on our territory... they are killing our people, they are using long-range missile cluster munitions on a regular basis,” Mr Zelenskiy told reporters.
“We’re talking about the use of those munitions only against military targets... we are defending ourselves.”
As the discussions took place, the Russian foreign ministry released a transcript of an interview with foreign finister Sergei Lavrov, who said the war would continue “until the West gives up its plans” to “inflict on Russia a strategic defeat at the hands of its Kyiv puppets”.
