NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says preparations for training Ukrainian pilots in F-16 fighter jets are “already advanced” and training will begin “in the summer”.
Jens Stoltenberg confirms that “decisions will be made” for the supply of combat aircraft to Ukraine from this formation.
Portugal and a dozen other NATO countries signed a statement yesterday in which they officially commit to increasing the combat capabilities of the Ukrainian air force. Stoltenberg welcomes the initiative that will start in the coming weeks.
“This is an initiative originally initiated by the Netherlands and Denmark. A group of NATO allies has formed a coalition to train F-16 fighter pilots from Ukraine. I am pleased that several other allies have now joined this initiative.” he said.
The Secretary General of NATO believed that the initiative, in which Portugal is participating, to train F-16 pilots will strengthen Ukraine’s defense capabilities, as “it will later allow a decision to provide F-16s” .
“The training will start as soon as possible,” he said, assuring that “decisions will be made to deliver combat aircraft on that basis.”
Jens Stoltenberg says there is no set date yet, but training will start very soon, but “some preparations have already progressed”. “What the Allies have informed us is that training will effectively begin this summer,” he added.
Stoltenberg spoke with Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky, who said in Vilnius, Lithuania, that he wants to be “in harmony” with members of the Atlantic Alliance regarding the invitation to join. Zelensky said he was in Vilnius to defend three priorities on the Ukrainian agenda.
“The first is the armaments package. New armaments packages to support our forces on the battlefield. The second is the invitation to join NATO,” said Zelensky, referring to the fact that we are “one step ahead” on this point as well. to be aligned with all allies”.
Source: DN
