Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov commented on US President Joe Bidenʼs refusal to supply Western fighter jets to Ukraine. According to him, this is only the first stage of negotiations.
He announced this at a joint press conference with French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecorne.
According to him, each military aid went through a series of stages:
- stage "No", i.e. refusal;
- the "Letʼs discuss and explore the possibilities" stage;
- stage "Letʼs train the crew";
- "Arrival" stage.
"So it was with HIMARS, with the same Bradleys. Remember the story with the German Leopards, there was also a "no" at first, and now we have a tank coalition. Thatʼs why I believe in the next "aircraft coalition". But there must always be a leader first, thatʼs why Iʼm here," Reznikov noted.
- Almost since the beginning of the war, Ukraine has been asking the US to hand over the F-16, but to no avail. Ukrainian pilots will need about half a year to master these fighters.
- In January of this year, the American company Lockheed Martin announced that it is ready to supply its F-16s to third countries for re-export to Ukraine.
- On January 30, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that Poland can transfer F-16 fighters to Ukraine, but only in agreement with NATO countries, as was the case with Leopard 2 tanks.