European countries offer F-16 jets to Ukraine as conflict with Russia intensifies

At a time when Chinese and African efforts are continuing to defuse the war that has been going on for more than a year, the New York Times quoted a high-ranking Ukrainian official as saying that 4 European countries, including the Netherlands, are ready to provide Kiev with F-16s. (F-16), and the Kremlin responded, stressing that Russia will not let unfriendly actions against it go unanswered.

The newspaper said that the administration of US President Joe Biden is still not convinced that Kiev needs these expensive aircraft, and an official at the US Department of Defense (Pentagon) considered that the priorities for Ukraine are air defense, artillery, mechanized vehicles and armored vehicles.

But a Pentagon spokesman said Washington did not oppose the transfer of F-16s to Ukraine from a third party, but that a decision had not yet been made.

In his statements last February, the US President said that the United States is providing Ukraine with what it needs in terms of tanks and air defenses, and that it does not need the F-16s at present. He stressed that “at the present time” he refuses to meet the demand of his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, to supply Kiev with F-16 fighters.

For his part, Politico quoted a Dutch government spokesman as saying that there is no agreement with the British government to supply Ukraine with F-16s.

On the other hand, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia will not let the unfriendly actions against it go unanswered. Peskov added that his country is ready to listen with interest to any proposal that would contribute to settling the situation in Ukraine.

Kiev has been asking its allies to send modern fighters, which Ukrainian President Zelensky described as “wings for freedom”, to replace its old fleet of Soviet MiGs and Sukhoi planes.

The wish list includes the American-made F-16 because of its destructive power and global availability, as well as the Swedish Gripen fighters, and says at the same time that it is still looking for other fighters that allies can provide it with.

Ukraine relies on its existing fleet to attack Russian positions and carry out interceptor flights, but its air force believes that providing newer fighters would change the course of the war.

field developments

In terms of field developments, the conflict between Ukraine and Russia has been renewed. While the Russian army confirmed today, Thursday, that it had destroyed all the targets of its night strikes in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Air Force announced that it had shot down 29 of the 30 missiles launched by Moscow.

And the Russian Defense Ministry said, “All identified targets have been destroyed,” noting that its forces have hit “a large stockpile of weapons and ammunition for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.”

Moscow did not specify the targets that were bombed, but only said that it targeted “large warehouses of foreign weapons and equipment, as well as enemy reserves.”

On the other hand, the Ukrainian Air Force announced that it shot down 29 out of 30 cruise missiles launched by Russia in a new night attack on Kiev and other Ukrainian regions, which resulted in at least one death in Odessa.

The Civil and Military Administration in Kiev said that the attacks launched by Russian forces since the beginning of this month are “unprecedented in their strength, intensity and diversity.”

She added that Russian strategic bombers fired cruise missiles from the Caspian Sea, while reconnaissance marches flew over the capital at a later time.

This is the ninth series of Russian missile strikes targeting the capital, Kiev, especially since the beginning of May, at a time when Kiev says it is finalizing its preparations to launch a large-scale counterattack to remove Russian forces from Ukrainian territory.

diplomatic efforts

On the diplomatic front, Chinese Special Envoy to Ukraine Li Hui concluded Thursday a two-day visit in Kiev to discuss a “solution” to the conflict.

The Ukrainian presidency did not want to confirm a meeting between the diplomat and Volodymyr Zelensky, but Beijing confirmed in a statement that the meeting took place between them without further details.

China stressed the absence of what it called a magic cure to solve the Ukrainian crisis, and said that everyone should work to build mutual trust and create conditions for negotiations between the two parties to the conflict. Tomorrow, Friday, Li Hui will visit Poland, then Germany, France and Russia in the following days.

At the United Nations, the UN Security Council will meet today, Thursday, at 19:00 GMT, to discuss the situation in Ukraine on the eve of the start of the G7 summit in Japan, where tougher sanctions on the Russian economy will be proposed.

Also politically, Russia announced today, Thursday, that African leaders will visit Moscow next month or early July, as part of a peace initiative in Ukraine announced by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Ramaphosa reported last Tuesday that both Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky agreed to receive the delegation consisting of 6 members who will visit Kiev and Moscow. The delegation includes the presidents of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Senegal, South Africa and Zambia.

“The president (Putin) is always ready to talk to all our partners who are sincerely interested in achieving stability in the world,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, adding that Russia was looking forward to the delegation presenting “concrete initiatives.”