Like other Western weapons, Ukraine would like to be able to use them against targets across the border, but the United States remains reluctant to do so. US permission is needed because F-16s are manufactured there.
“We are still busy with the US government to source all the F-16s,” Bruins-Sloat said when asked if the Americans still had to agree. The Netherlands, the United States, Denmark and Belgium, among others, are part of a national coalition that wants to help Ukraine acquire fighter jets.
Belgium resistance
The Netherlands and Denmark want to allow Ukraine to use it across the border, but Belgium has opposed this. This issue is a major topic of discussion at the NATO Foreign Ministers' meeting in Prague.
NATO diplomats say this is not possible without US approval. American media reported that Washington would allow the use of its weapons on Russian territory, but would maintain all types of restrictions.
The Ukrainian military cannot wait to use the F-16. The aircraft could make Ukrainian airspace safer, along with other forms of anti-aircraft defense such as Patriot systems.
“The F-16 is particularly suitable for intercepting large numbers of cruise missiles, for example,” defense expert Peter Venninga of The Hague Center for Strategic Studies (HCSS) told RTL News this week. Russia has launched hundreds of cruise missiles at Ukrainian cities and infrastructure in the past two years.
