Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday accused “some” Western partners, including Portugal, of procrastinating and delaying the training of Ukrainian pilots for fighter jets in the conflict between the country and Russia.
“Do you have any idea when Ukraine will be able to receive the [aviões de caça] F-16?” Zelensky asked reporters at a joint press conference with the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, referring to the West.
“Isn’t there a schedule for training missions? I think some partners are delaying [o processo] and dragging feet. Why do you do it? I don’t know”, added the Ukrainian president, who today receives Sánchez’s visit also in his capacity as Spanish president of the European Union (EU), which started this Saturday.
Zelensky thus expressed his frustration that the Western allies have committed to training the Ukrainian pilots for the F-16 fighter jets, as they have not yet provided any date for the start of the 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 pledged to train Ukrainian pilots in the use of these US-made fighters.
Ukraine has been asking its allies for months to send these planes to better protect their cities and their soldiers who are participating in the counteroffensive in the conflict against Russia, which began with the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
kyiv considers that the training of its pilots in the use of the ‘F-16’ is a first step to send these planes to Ukraine.
Zelenskiy and other Ukrainian military leaders and commanders have been insisting in recent weeks that Ukraine could meet its current counter-offensive with much more security and much less loss of life and military equipment if advancing units were protected from the air by ‘F- 16’. ‘. ‘.
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 kyiv 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 association” between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Ukraine, including through the creation of a council between the Atlantic Alliance and Ukraine.
Zelensky thanked the President of the Spanish Government for his support and “symbolic visit” to kyiv, when Spain begins its presidency of the European Union.
During the visit to kyiv, Sánchez announced that Spain will send four more Leopard tanks to Ukraine.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and a military conflict has been taking place ever since.
Source: TSF
