The head of the Danish Ministry of Defense Troels Lund Poulsen said that Copenhagen will transfer the first F-16 fighters to Kyiv in the summer.
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“We will deliver the first F-16 fighters to Ukraine this summer,” Poulsen said.
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He added that the new aid package to Kyiv will include air defense systems, drones and 15 thousand artillery shells.
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Earlier, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that he could not give the exact timing of the transfer of F-16 fighters to Ukraine, but would like this to happen “as soon as possible.” In his opinion, the Ukrainian Armed Forces will have the right to use these fighters to strike “Russian military targets outside of Ukraine.”
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The Netherlands and Denmark were the first to agree to provide F-16 fighters to Kyiv. The White House has confirmed that Ukraine will receive combat aircraft from third countries once its pilots complete training.
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The head of the Dutch Ministry of Defense, Kaisa Ollongren, said that the Hague expects to send the first F-16 fighters to Kyiv in 2024. As Russian Ambassador to The Hague Alexander Shulgin noted earlier, the Dutch are “turning a blind eye” to the fact that the supply of their F-16 fighters to Kyiv will lead to a prolongation of the conflict in Ukraine and even greater suffering for its citizens.
