EU will contribute to costs of member states sending F-16 jets to Ukraine – Borrell

During the high-level week of the next session of the UN General Assembly in New York at the end of September, a meeting may be held to discuss peace in Ukraine, EU High Representative Josep Borrell said on Monday at a press conference at the Magdalena Palace in Santander, Spain.

Rubryka reports, referring to Europa Press, that such a meeting is currently being prepared. According to Borrell, the international community should pressure Russia to end the war.

"Only Russia can stop the war, Russia started it, and Russia must end it," said the EU high representative.

He added that the European Union "will continue to support Ukraine" and finance part of the costs for transferring F-16 jets to Kyiv following the decision of Denmark, the Netherlands, and the USA, if the countries make a corresponding request.

Borrell expressed confidence that the planes are important to the country, although he admitted that "unfortunately" they "will not be able to be used very soon" because the pilots must first be trained, which is a "long-term task."

"But the sooner we start, the better," he said.

Borrell stressed that Ukraine "does not have air support and long-range missiles," which, in his opinion, "would be very necessary" to prevent the continuation of Russian bombing of Ukrainian cities since Kyiv does not have the ability to respond with the same means. The high representative also accused Russia of daily drone attacks on Ukrainian territory against civilian objects.

What we know about the transfer of F-16 fighters to Ukraine

Ukrainian officials and the military have been asking Western allies for a long time to start supplying modern fighter jets. Earlier, the prime ministers of the Netherlands and Great Britain agreed to work on an international coalition of fighter jets for Ukraine. Denmark joined them.

The United States approved the transfer of training materials for F-16 fighters to Ukraine at the request of Denmark, which should bring closer the start of training of Ukrainian pilots on these aircraft. The Netherlands and Denmark have given the green light to supply F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine after Ukrainian pilots complete their training.

A number of important decisions were also reached during Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to the countries of Northern Europe. As Rubryka reported, on August 19, during an official visit to Sweden, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, announced that Ukrainian military pilots also began training on Swedish JAS 39 Gripen fighters, which was agreed upon between the two countries earlier this year.

The Netherlands and Denmark agreed to transfer F-16 jets to Ukraine after Ukrainian pilots finish training. Ukraine will receive 42 American F-16 fighter jets from the Netherlands and 19 fighters from Denmark. Training of Ukrainian pilots will begin as soon as possible. Greece will also join the training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets.