The Minister of Defense (MoD) of Denmark Troels Lund Poulsen did not rule out that Western countries will decide by the summer whether they will transfer F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.
Le Figaro, referring to AFP, reports that the Danish politician clarified: a decision on the F-16 can be made in the near future, but Denmark is not going to hand over the planes to the Ukrainian troops on its own. This requires collective consent, including from the US.
- Denmark and its allies have long been discussing whether to transfer fighter jets to Ukraine. Germany and the US have no plans to do so yet, and Denmark, according to its defense minister, is open to the idea.
- On March 23, Slovakia already handed over the first four MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine. Other aircraft will be handed over in the coming weeks. For security reasons, these deliveries will not be announced. However, some media wrote that Slovakia will transfer 13 MiG-29s.
- On April 3, Poland informed about the transfer of the first few MiG-29s to Ukraine, but did not specify the exact number. Now it is known that there were four of them. After Volodymyr Zelenskyʼs visit to Polish President Andrzej Duda, the transfer of ten more fighter jets was reported.
- Ukraine is asking its allies for Western-made multirole fighter jets, such as the F-15, F-16 and F-18. So far, the partners have agreed only to train Ukrainian pilots, in particular, this was promised by Britain, Poland and three other countries, which are kept secret. Discussions about preparations for the transfer of Western aircraft are ongoing.