The Ukrainians want to train F-16 pilots, but Britain has no plans to send them planes for now
Britain has no plans to send fighter jets to Ukraine after the Ukrainian military indicated it would be happy to use F-16s, the Prime Minister's spokesman said today. Rishi Sunak.
Asked whether Britain would send fighter jets to Ukraine, the spokesman said: "There are no plans to do so."
"The Ukrainians have decided to train F-16 pilots, and you know the RAF is not using them, the spokesman said, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is visiting Britain and asking the West to send fighter jets.
Zelensky added that he was optimistic about the upcoming "very important decisions" on the delivery of fighter jets that he wants from Western countries to defend against a Russian invasion.
"We want to create an 'aircraft coalition' and I am very optimistic about that, we talked about it and I think it will happen very soon, you will be informed about the decisions that I consider very important," Zelensky told reporters after the conversation with Sunak.
Britain, which is among the main countries helping Kiev, announced last week that it would send Storm Shadow cruise missiles to Ukraine, becoming the first country to supply it with such long-range weapons.
In 2022, London sent military aid to Kiev worth 2,65 billion euros, and the government announced that it will continue to help at that level this year, which is the second largest aid to the country, after that of the United States.