“Biden approves Ukrainian pilot F-16 training”… Is it the fighter support decision procedure?

President Biden mentioned at the G7 Summit

“Determining the method of fighter support during the training period”

seems to be a way to tolerate F -16 support from other countries It is known that Attention is focusing on whether this decision will lead to F-16 support for Ukraine, which has been requesting support for fighter jets in addition to land weapons such as main battle tanks and shells. According to the Associated

Press on the 20th , President Biden, who is attending the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, is said to have approved such pilot training on the 19th. The AP reported this, citing multiple officials familiar with the matter. The Associated Press noted that the decision was made when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was scheduled to visit the site of the G7 summit on the 21st. According to President Biden’s decision, pilot training for Ukrainian pilots is expected to begin in Europe within a few weeks. However, President Biden is still F-16 for Ukraine.

Whether or not to support it has not been determined. However, the AP said , “President Biden ( attending the G7 summit) told the leaders of other countries that when and how much and who will support 4th-generation fighter jets to Ukraine will be decided within several months of pilot training. “

Heads of state attending the G7 summit안전놀이터, including US President Joe Biden (fourth from the right), are moving for a commemorative photo at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Japan on the 19th. UPI · Yonhap News

In the meantime, Ukraine has been appealing for the need for the latest fighter jets from the West. In particular , it is strongly requesting support for the F-16 , an American fighter jet . “To protect our people, we need something more sophisticated than an air defense system capable of shooting down Russian fighters from a distance of more than 100 kilometers,” said Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Volodymyr Gavrilho in an interview with the British Independent reported on the 8th . This is why we ask our partners to provide the same up-to-date fighter jets.”

However, the Biden government has been reluctant to request fighter support due to the cost of support, management issues such as fighter jets, and efficiency in war. Other Western countries have also shown a lukewarm attitude in supporting fighter jets, fearing that if Ukraine directly strikes the Russian mainland with Western fighter jets, the war will escalate, while Russia’s resistance to fighter jet support cannot be ignored. In response, after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 last year , only Poland sent 14 MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine .

US Air Force F-16 fighter jet. A screenshot of the US Air Force website

However, Britain and the Netherlands issued a statement after the Council of Europe ( CoE ) summit held in Iceland on the 16th and agreed to build a coalition to provide Ukraine with an air combat capability, supporting everything from training to procurement of F-16 fighters. said it did At the time of President Zelensky’s visit to the UK on the 15th, just before that, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said, “The UK will be a key country in the fighter support coalition.”

Also, prior to President Biden’s comment, CNN reported on the 18th that the US had sent a signal to its European allies that it would not block the re-export of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. While the US is reluctant to send its own F-16s to Ukraine, it will not stop its allies from re-exporting them.