Denmark, Netherlands to lead Ukrainian forces’ F-16 drills: Ramstein announces who else will join ‘fighter jet coalition’

This was announced at the final press conference after the Ramstein meeting by the US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

The Pentagon chief said that at the meeting they discussed plans to train Ukrainian pilots on fourth-generation fighters, including the F-16.

"The European coalition for training Ukrainian pilots will be led by Denmark and the Netherlands. The training structure will be developed in the coming weeks. Norway, Belgium, Portugal and Poland will also participate in this process. They have already offered their assistance in the past. We also expect more countries to join this important initiative," Lloyd Austin said.

• As a reminder, on 21 May, US President Joe Biden approved the training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16s. Volodymyr Zelenskyy assured that Ukraine would not use these aircraft to strike at Russian territory.

• Ukraine hopes to receive the first modern American F-16 fighters in autumn 2023.

• The Pentagon is convinced that the delivery of F-16s to Ukraine will take several months.