The UK has said it is up to the White House ultimately to decide on whether to send F-16 jets to Ukraine. Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, made the comments after talks with Boris Pistorius, his German counterpart, in Berlin, adding that Washington has to decide “whether it wants to release that technology”.
Mr Pistorius said that “it depends on the White House... to decide whether the F-16 fighter planes can be delivered” given that any movement of the US-made aircraft would require American approval. About 25 nations use the multirole jets.
It shows that there is still work to do to make the “international coalition” of jets that the UK and the Netherlands have said they want to build a reality. Ukraine has said that modern jets from the West are vital to protect the nation from Russian rocket attacks and to reclaim territory taken by Russia in a longexpected counteroffensive. In an address to the more than 40 nations of the Council of Europe yesterday, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky said: “Of course, there is still much to be done. We need additional air defence systems and missiles. We also need modern fighter jets, without which no air defence system will be perfect. And I am sure we will get there.”
This was all part of the web of diplomatic efforts yesterday around the invasion of Ukraine. Turkey announced an extension of the deal allowing Ukraine to export millions of tonnes of grain through the Black Sea a day before it expired.
この記事は The Independent の May 18, 2023 版に掲載されています。
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この記事は The Independent の May 18, 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、8,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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