NOS News•
Ukraine has submitted a request to the Netherlands for the supply of F-16 fighter aircraft. This has been confirmed by Minister Ollongren of Defense.
Ukrainian President Zelensky has asked for “wings for freedom”. According to Ollongren, the request is understandable but not easy to comply with.
“We need to discuss the availability of F-16s with the Americans and other allies,” says Ollongren. “And we have to look seriously at the consequences, it can’t just happen overnight. We have to be honest about that.”
The minister explains the content of the request to Nieuwsuur:
“We take the request very seriously, but fighter jets are not just arranged”
Before the Ukrainian army can use the fighter jets, soldiers must be trained for them. And the plane is a US defense system, so it needs permission from the US government.
Ollongren does not exclude that in the long term Ukraine will be one of the countries where F-16s will be used. “The country will never be able to buy Russian fighters again anyway, which they used to do.”
At the end of January, Prime Minister Rutte said at a joint press conference with French Prime Minister Macron that there was no request yet. Now it is formally there.
Typhoon
Ukraine has been insisting for some time on the supply of Western warplanes in the fight against Russia. President Zelensky made the case for it yesterday during a visit to Britain and also urged EU leaders in Brussels today.
Zelensky said after the talks he heard from several European leaders that they are willing to supply aircraft, without going into details. Western countries have so far been reluctant to make commitments.
In addition, the agreements on permission for the deployment of the F-16 also apply to other aircraft and countries: the country where the aircraft are made must give its blessing to the deployment in Ukraine. Sometimes it even involves several countries. For example, the Europfighter Typhoon is manufactured by four countries: the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Spain.
