Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday accused “some” Western partners, including Portugal, of dragging on and delaying the training of Ukrainian fighter pilots in the conflict between the country and Russia.
“Do they have any idea when Ukraine will receive the [aviões de caça] F-16?”, questioned Zelensky for journalists, during a joint press conference with Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, referring to the West.
“Is there no timetable for training missions? I think some partners are procrastinating [o processo] and drag your feet. Why are you doing it? Don’t know”, added the Ukrainian president, who is also visiting Sánchez as part of the Spanish presidency of the European Union (EU), which started this Saturday.
Zelensky expressed his frustration that Western allies have agreed to train Ukrainian pilots for the ‘F-16’ fighter jets, as they have not yet provided dates for the start of training.
The so-called “F-16 Coalition” includes countries such as Portugal, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium and the United States, whose governments have committed to training Ukrainian pilots in the use of these American-made fighter jets.
For months now, Ukraine has been asking its allies to send these planes to better protect its cities and its soldiers participating in the counter-offensive in the conflict against Russia that began with the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
Kiev believes that training its pilots in the use of the ‘F-16’ is a first step towards sending these aircraft to Ukraine.
Zelensky and other Ukrainian military leaders and commanders have insisted in recent weeks that Ukraine could face its current counter-offensive with much better guarantees and much less loss of life and military equipment if the advancing units were protected from the air by ” F-16s’. ‘.
Spain is not part of the “F-16 coalition” and therefore has not committed to training Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16s.
Ukraine’s candidacy for the EU is one of the priorities of the Spanish presidency, according to a joint statement by the Ukrainian president and the Spanish prime minister, who is visiting Kiev today.
“Spain reiterates its support for Ukraine’s candidacy for the EU, which will be one of the priorities of its presidency,” the statement read.
According to the same note, Spain also supports “the strengthening of the partnership” between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Ukraine, including through the establishment of a council between the Atlantic Alliance and Ukraine.
Zelensky thanked the Spanish prime minister for his support and “symbolic visit” to Kiev as Spain begins its presidency of the European Union.
During the visit to Kiev, Sánchez announced that Spain will send four more Leopard tanks to Ukraine.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and a military conflict has taken place ever since.
Source: DN
