Zelensky issues stark warning over F-16s

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the number of F-16 fighter jets his country will receive from allies this year won’t be sufficient to counter Russia’s air force.

“The decision to transfer F-16s to Ukraine was strategic, but their number was not strategic,” Zelensky said at a press conference in Kyiv on Monday.

Ukraine’s NATO allies have started transferring U.S.-manufactured F-16s to Ukraine, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last week, announcing that the fighter jets would be “flying in the skies of Ukraine this summer to make sure that Ukraine can continue to effectively defend itself against the Russian aggression.”

Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium had pledged to send Ukraine more than 60 of the fighter jets to Ukraine this summer. But Bloomberg reported on July 12, citing unnamed sources, that this year, Ukraine may get far fewer jets than it had hoped—six this summer and up to 20 by the end of 2024.

“I cannot say now how many of these aircraft there will be. They will not be enough – for what? They will certainly strengthen us, but will there be enough of these aircraft to fight on par with the Russian air fleet? I believe that they will not be enough. Do we expect more? Yes,” Zelensky told reporters.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov issued a warning to the West on May 29 after Belgium pledged to deliver a first batch of F-16s to Ukraine this year. Belgium has vowed to supply Ukraine with 30 F-16s before 2028.

“They are trying to tell us that the United States and NATO would stop at nothing in Ukraine,” Lavrov said said in an interview with state-run news agency RIA Novosti. “Nevertheless, we hope that the Russian-Belarusian drills on the use of non-strategic nuclear weapons that are underway now will knock some sense into our opponents by reminding them about the catastrophic consequences of further nuclear escalation.”

Lavrov added: “These aircraft will be destroyed, like other types of weapons supplied by NATO countries to Ukraine.”

Zelensky has long called on his Western allies to provide his military with the advanced fighter jets to assist in the war against Russia, now in its third year.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies, a U.S.-based think tank, said in analysis published last month that with the right strategy, doctrinal approach, logistical support and training, F-16s “could provide a critical advance in enhancing Ukraine’s border defense and establishing localized air superiority, significantly bolstering Ukraine’s position on the ground.”

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