MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th February, 2023) F-16 fighter jets "will definitely come" to Ukraine and it is "only a matter of time" when the United States will send them to country, Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council, said on Tuesday.
Kiev has long been asking Washington and other NATO nations for F-16 fighter jets to bolster its forces amid Russia's special military operation. The Politico newspaper reported in January, citing sources, that a group of US military officials was quietly lobbying for the delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Kiev and that it was gathering momentum in the US Defense Department amid Ukraine's preparations for a planned offensive this spring.
"It's only a matter of time before we get F-16s. They will definitely come. Unfortunately, in the meantime we're losing our people while fighting for our independence," Danilov was quoted by CNN as saying
Western countries ramped up their military support for Ukraine after Russia launched a special military operation there on February 24, 2022, responding to calls for help from the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. In April, Moscow sent a note to NATO member states condemning their military assistance to Kiev after Russia started its military operation in Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that any arms shipments on Ukrainian territory would be "legitimate targets" for Russian forces.
