Delivery of F-16s to Ukraine is “to the White House”, say London and Berlin | Abroad

“We have no F-16s and we will not be supplying Typhoons (aircraft), but we can of course contribute to training and support, within the limits of not having any F-16 pilots,” the British minister said. Ben Wallace in Berlin at a joint press conference with his German counterpart Boris Pistorius.

Wallace was asked about the “international coalition” London has proposed to supply Western fighter jets to Ukraine. He said the coalition was a “political support”, a “signal to Russia that we have no objection in principle to providing Ukraine with the capability it needs”. The United Kingdom has already indicated that it intends to train Ukrainian pilots in the near future.

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Volodymyr Zelensky has been asking his Western allies for months for modern fighter jets, but Germany cannot play an active role in such an alliance either, says German Defense Minister Pistorius. “We don’t have the training capacity, nor the skills, nor the planes,” he said. “As far as I know, it is up to the White House to decide whether the F-16 fighter jets can be delivered” and that “this is not a matter that will be settled in Berlin,” Pistorius added.

“There are no demands on us” when it comes to supplying fighter jets, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said today at the Council of Europe summit in Reykjavik. The German government is focusing on tanks, ammunition, air defense and establishing a “repair system,” the German leader said.

“However, Germany could make military airports available for training with F-16s by pilots from other countries,” said Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, chairwoman (FDP) of the Bundestag’s defense committee.

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