News Feed

White House: Poland sending jets to Ukraine won't sway US to send F-16s

1 min read

Poland's recent commitment to provide MiG-29s will not influence the U.S. to send F-16s to Ukraine, the White House said, as reported by CNN.

U.S. National Security Council communications coordinator John Kirby, as quoted by CNN, said that Poland supplying Ukraine with MiG-29s was "a sovereign decision," and it wasn't for the U.S. to "characterize Poland's decision one way or another."

"It doesn’t change our calculus with respect to F-16s," he said.

Polish President Andrzej Duda said on March 16 that his country would transfer four fighter jets to Ukraine "in the coming days."

Meanwhile, the U.S. and other allies have thus far declined to provide aircraft like the American-manufactured F-16, which has been operational since the 1970s and utilized by more than 20 countries.

In an interview with ABC News on Feb. 25, U.S. President Joe Biden said he dismissed the idea of supplying Ukraine with sophisticated fighter aircraft "for now" because Ukraine doesn't need them.

He added that there is “no basis upon which there is a rationale, according to our military now, to provide F-16s.”

Politico: China sends rifles, body armor to Russian entities
Article image
Avatar
The Kyiv Independent news desk

We are the news team of the Kyiv Independent. We are here to make sure our readers get quick, essential updates about the events in Ukraine. Feel free to contact us via email with feedback and news alerts.

Read more
News Feed
 (Updated:  )

Ukrainian men aged 18 to 60 have been prohibited from leaving the country since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, with some exceptions. Men aged 25 to 60 can be conscripted into the armed forces.

The Ramstein summit will take place as Washington is trying to organize peace talks between Ukrainian and Russian presidents in its effort to end Moscow's full-scale war, while Kyiv awaits a proposed framework for security guarantees from its partners.

Show More