US, Germany and the UK reject Ukraine’s requests for fighter jets

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• President Joe Biden on Monday said the United States will not send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.
• Germany on Sunday said Berlin will not provide fighter jets for Ukraine despite calls for the West to supply the country with advanced warplanes.
• The U.K. made a similar announcement on Tuesday.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Sunday that Berlin will not provide fighter jets for Ukraine despite calls for the West to supply the country with advanced warplanes.

President Joe Biden on Monday responded “no” when asked if the United States will send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.

Last week, the president announced that the U.S. will send 31 Abrams battle tanks to the war-stricken country. Following the announcement, an adviser to Ukraine’s Defense secretary told The Hill that he was optimistic that they will get Western fighter jets, like American F-16s.

National security adviser John Kirby said last week that he “can’t blame the Ukrainians for wanting more and more systems.”

“It’s not the first time they’ve talked about fighter jets, but I don’t have any announcements to make on that front,” Kirby added.

Ukraine has been asking for American F-16 jets since Russia invaded in February 2021.

Biden also told reporters that he’s “not sure” if he will go to Europe next month for the one-year anniversary of the start of the war. He added though that he was planning to visit Poland but didn’t yet know when.

Last week, the U.S. announced it will send 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine following Germany’s announcement to immediately provide tanks. The Biden administration had previously said the Abrams would be of little benefit to Ukraine due to its costly and laborious maintenance and upkeep.  

Ukraine pleaded hard for the U.S., Germany and other countries to provide the tanks, which it said would be critical to a spring counteroffensive against Russia. It will take months before the Abrams tanks arrive in Kyiv.

On Tuesday, the U.K. said it was “not practical” to send Ukraine Typhoons or F-35s at this point in the war. Ukraine isn’t asking for F-35s, which are more advanced than F-16s.

There have been discussions about allowing other countries to send their warplanes to Ukraine, such as the Netherlands as they await the F-35s they ordered.

Source: Yahoo News