President Biden said Monday that the United States would not send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, even as allied nations like France say they are considering all options as a major Russian offensive looms.
Speaking to reporters from the South Lawn, Biden responded with a simple “no” when asked if the United States would send the sophisticated fighter jets to Kyiv.
Earlier in the day, French President Emmanuel Macron said “nothing is excluded” when asked if France would consider sending planes to Ukraine.
President Biden speaks to reporters after returning to the White House on January 30, 2023 in Washington, DC Biden had traveled to Baltimore to discuss how Bipartisan Infrastructure Act funds are slated to help replace the tunnel 150 Years from Baltimore to Potomac.
(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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Although Macron noted that certain conditions must be met, including a guarantee that they will not be used “to touch Russian soil,” Radio Free Europe reported.
Macron’s comments came during a joint press conference in The Hague with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who also said there is “no taboo” when it comes to sending fighter jets to Ukraine, but added that Kyiv has not formally requested no aircraft from the Netherlands. .
Ukraine has been requesting fighter jets since the war broke out nearly a year ago, though it is unclear from whom Kyiv formally requested fighter jets.
Poland, which joined NATO in 1999, aims to replace its fleet with used F-16s and train its pilots to fly them.
(U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Andrew Lee)
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The United States has long resisted sending fighter jets to Ukraine, including Soviet-era planes from neighboring nations like Poland, fearing the war could escalate beyond Ukraine’s borders.
Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany Oleksiy Makeyev told local outlet DW that Kyiv had also not formally requested fighter jets from Berlin, although German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Sunday that Germany would not send fighter jets to Ukraine.
Both Germany and the US have reversed previous positions on security assistance for Kyiv, recently deciding, after months of deliberation, to send tanks to the Ukrainian front lines.
A self-propelled artillery vehicle fires near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Wednesday, November 9, 2022.
(AP Photo/LIBKOS)
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President Volodymyr Zelenskyy defended support from allied nations on Monday, but said the timing was important.
“Sometimes good decisions, when they slow down, end up being weak,” he warned.
