Skip to content
Edit post

CNN: Biden says US won't send F-16 jets to Ukraine

by The Kyiv Independent news desk January 31, 2023 3:22 AM 1 min read
This audio is created with AI assistance

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Jan. 30 that he wouldn't send American fighter jets to Ukraine, even though the U.S. is ramping up military assistance in the form of artillery and tanks.

White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby later defended the Biden administration’s decision not to send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, pointing instead to the aid the U.S. is providing, including Abrams tanks.

“What I can tell you is that there's a lot of capability that is being sent, and will be sent in the coming weeks and months," Kirby told CNN. “The kinds of capabilities that we know will be critical to helping Ukrainians again in the fighting now in the wintertime, as well as the kind of fighting that we expect that they're going to be doing in the spring.”

President Biden announced on Jan. 25 that the U.S. will send Ukraine a battalion of 31 M1 Abrams tanks, the army’s premier main battle tank, in a significant show of support for Kyiv in its fight against Russia. The 31 tanks destined for Ukraine, however, will not include "the secret armor mix that makes the Army’s newest version so lethal."

In the meantime, U.S. Transportation Command reported on Jan. 30 that they are delivering the first shipment of Bradley Fighting Vehicles to Ukraine as part of the U.S. $2.85 billion military aid agreement announced earlier this year. The shipment — containing more than 60 Bradleys  — left the city of North Charleston, South Carolina, last week.

News Feed

6:15 AM  (Updated: )

Russian drone strike in Mykolaiv kills 5, injures 1.

Four people were killed and one 45-year-old woman was hospitalized following the attack, Governor Vitalii Kim said. Search and rescue operations have reportedly been completed.
2:20 PM

Ukraine launches largest drone attack on Moscow.

Russian air defense shot down 70 Ukrainian drones, including 34 in Moscow Oblast, in Ukraine’s largest drone attack on the Russian capital, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on Nov. 10.
4:34 AM

EU preparing 15th sanctions package against Russia, targeting foreign-made parts.

"We have to strengthen anti-sanctions circumvention measures because Russia cannot produce (weaponry) without imported parts, chips and other components," the EU's chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, said at a news conference in Kyiv. "We should use sanctions to isolate Russia's industrial capabilities from imports from other countries."
MORE NEWS

Editors' Picks

Enter your email to subscribe
Please, enter correct email address
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required

Subscribe

* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Explaining Ukraine with Kate Tsurkan
* indicates required
Successfuly subscribed
Thank you for signing up for this newsletter. We’ve sent you a confirmation email.