The United States would welcome the decision of the allies to transfer their fighter jets to Ukraine. This was announced on February 17 by the representative of the National Security Council of the White House, John Kirby.

At the same time, the official noted that the US administration itself never indicates to partners what specific weapons and when should be transferred to Ukraine.

“If one of our allies and partners wants to provide fighters to Mr. [президенту Украины Владимиру] Zelensky, then this is certainly their sovereign decision, we will welcome this, ”he said at a briefing.

Kirby also emphasized that the United States of America itself does not train Ukrainian pilots on American combat aircraft, since there has not yet been a decision to transfer them to Ukraine, he explained.

Earlier in the day, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said that no country had yet promised to transfer fighter jets to Kyiv. He pointed out that Ukraine needs fighters to maintain air defense (air defense) and to carry out a counteroffensive. The Minister noted that Kyiv is interested in fighters from the US, UK, France and Germany, as these countries have the highest production capacity and the largest fleet of aircraft.

On February 7, US President Joe Biden said he did not want to send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine because combat aircraft should be left in the United States of America.

At the same time, on February 2, The New York Times wrote that the United States and the European Union could transfer F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine through the Netherlands and Denmark.

In addition, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that the country could transfer fighter jets to Ukraine, but training pilots for them would take a long time.

Amid the discussion about the possible supply of combat aircraft to Kyiv, former US Marine Corps officer Scott Ritter emphasized that the supply of fighters to Ukraine would not solve the situation on the battlefield.

Western countries have stepped up military and financial support for Ukraine after the start of Russia’s special operation to protect Donbass. The decision on the special operation was made by the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin against the backdrop of the aggravation of the situation in the region as a result of increased shelling by Ukrainian militants.

For more up-to-date videos and details about the situation in Donbass, watch the Izvestia TV channel.