European countries are still waiting for US permission to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16s – Politico
A coalition of European countries that this week promised to begin training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets is still waiting for official US approval of the programme.
Source: Politico, citing US and EU officials
Details: Official training can begin only after the US State Department officially signs off on a request for the transfer of instructions, flight simulators and other materials related to the aircraft, which has not yet happened.
The formal request "is still being reviewed," according to Lieutenant Colonel Garron Garn, the representative of the Pentagon, who referred additional inquiries to the State Department despite President Joe Biden's pledge to approve the programme. A representative for the State Department declined to comment.
There is no indication that the US will disapprove of the programme, but requests from the Europeans have been pending for several weeks.
Background:
- This week, Ukraine signed a memorandum with its 11 partner states at the NATO Summit in Vilnius. The memorandum defines the training conditions of Ukrainian pilots on the F-16 fighter jets.
- Apart from that, on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius, Kajsa Ollongren, the Minister of Defence of the Netherlands, said that her government currently only has permission to train Ukrainian pilots, and does not yet have consent to the delivery of aircraft.
- The Pentagon said that Russia's current air defence and air force capabilities create "not ideal conditions" for supplying Ukraine with US-made F-16 fighter jets at this time.
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