US to Allow Allies , to Send F-16s to Ukraine.
On Aug.
17, the U.S. said it will allow fighter jets to be sent to Ukraine from Denmark and the Netherlands.
Secretary of State Antony Blinkin provided letters of assurance to his foreign counterparts.
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I am writing to express the United States' full support for both the transfer of F-16 fighter aircraft to Ukraine and for the training of Ukrainian pilots by qualified F-16 instructors, Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State, via letter obtained by Reuters .
It remains critical that Ukraine is able to defend itself against ongoing Russian aggression and violation of its sovereignty, Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State, via letter obtained by Reuters .
Officials from both Denmark and the Netherlands issued statements.
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We welcome Washington's decision to pave the way for sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.
Now, we will further discuss the subject with our European partners, Wopke Hoekstra, Dutch Foreign Minister, via X.
The government has said several times that a donation is a natural next step after training.
We are discussing it with close allies, and I expect we will soon be able to be more concrete about that, Jakob Ellemann-Jensen, Danish Defense Minister, to news agency Ritzau.
According to the Danish defense ministry, 11 countries will begin training Ukrainian pilots to operate the F-16s this month in Denmark.
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In May, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that the Netherlands was phasing out F-16s from its military and considering giving them to Ukraine.
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The country currently has 24 F-16s that will be phased out by next year.
Another 18 are for sale, with 12 of them already provisionally sold.
