The U.S. President Joe Bidenʼs negative response to journalistsʼ questions about whether the U.S. will supply Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets caused skepticism in the U.S. Department of Defense.
This is reported by The Washington Post (WP) with reference to sources in the Pentagon.
According to a Pentagon official, the publication writes that among the departmentʼs employees, who are in favor of more active support for Ukraine, there is growing disappointment with the White Houseʼs cautious approach to providing military aid to Ukraine.
According to journalists, some officials in the U.S. Defense Ministry assume that the transfer of fighters may be approved somewhat later. Officials note that there have already been such situations when the American administration rejected Kyivʼs requests for the supply of some weapons, but later gave its consent, in particular, regarding M1 Abrams tanks.
Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder says that the U.S. and its allies are consulting with Ukraine on the spectrum of aid and adapting military packages to the requests and needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
He emphasized that Western countries have already provided short-term assistance to "maintain and strengthen the existing air force potential of Ukraine." It is probably about the supply by some Western countries since April of last year of spare parts for aircraft that were already in Ukraine, writes WP.
- On January 26, the Deputy National Security Adviser John Feiner told CNBC that the U.S. does not rule out the delivery of fighter jets, but already on January 31, Biden denied this.