The White House authorized the delivery of F-16 fighters to Ukraine before the end of the year

The F-16 fighter jets could be delivered to Ukraine by the end of 2023, John Kirby, the White House’s strategic communications coordinator at the White House National Security Council, told Fox News.

He also noted that according to the United States, the F-16 alone will not be enough to change the course of the war. Kiev needs artillery, ammunition, air defense systems and tanks more, Kirby added. “In all four cases, we provided an incredible amount of assistance and, frankly, at an unprecedented rate,” a US official said.

Kirby also reminded that Ukraine releases “thousands” of artillery shells every day, so ammunition is a priority in the supply. That is why US President Joe Biden decided to supply Kiev with cluster munitions, he said.

More than a dozen Western countries joined the coalition of militants. Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden and the United Kingdom have volunteered to train Ukrainian pilots to fly the F-16.

Kiev has been asking for modern Western fighters since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, initially the United States and Germany ruled out such a possibility. However, before the Ukrainian counter-offensive, Washington softened its stance: it agreed to train Ukrainian pilots and stated that it would not oppose the delivery of F-16s to Kiev by other countries.

NATO has previously stated that Ukraine will not receive F-16 fighters for the current counter-offensive. The head of the NATO military committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, explained that in the near future it will not be possible to train pilots and technicians, as well as to provide a “logistics organization” to maintain aircraft in proper condition.

In Ukraine, the first F-16 deliveries are expected to start in 2024. Western officials interviewed by Politico share the same opinion.

In Russia, the delivery of fighter jets to Ukraine will be treated as a nuclear threat from the West, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. “In the course of hostilities, our military will not determine whether each specific aircraft of a certain type is equipped to carry nuclear weapons or not. The very fact of the appearance of such systems in the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be considered by us as a threat from the West in the nuclear sphere,” the diplomat said in an interview with Lente.ru.