Netherlands will send 42 F-16 fighters to Ukraine – Zelenskyy

He wrote about this on Telegram.

He said that fighter jets will definitely be seen in the Ukrainian skies since they discussed the details.

“F16. Breakthrough agreement. From now on, we have specifics. The F-16 will be in the Ukrainian sky. Thank you, Netherlands! Thank you, Mark! Thank you to everyone who helps!” he wrote.

"Today we are taking another step to make Ukraine's defense stronger. We are getting F-16 planes. These planes will help us keep Russian terrorists away from our cities and towns. Mark Rutte and I agreed on how many F-16s Ukraine will get. We will have 42 planes after our pilots and engineers are trained. This is just the start. Thank you, Netherlands!" the president added later. 

Earlier, Zelenskyy mentioned that he, along with Olena Zelenska and the team, arrived in the Netherlands.

"Together with the First Lady and the team, we arrived in the Netherlands. As always, we will have substantive talks with Prime Minister Mark Rutte. The main issue is F-16 for Ukraine to protect our people from Russian terror. We are getting stronger," Zelenskyy said.

In addition, according to him, the Global Peace Summit, the Peace Formula and bringing the terrorist state of Russia to justice will be on the agenda during the talks.

F-16 fighter jets for Ukraine

On May 21, US President Joe Biden approved the training of Ukrainians on F-16s. Volodymyr Zelenskyy assured that Ukraine would not use these aircraft to strike at Russian territory. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry adviser Yuriy Sak said that Ukraine hopes to receive the first modern American F-16 fighter jets in the fall of 2023.

In Luly, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that the first F-16 fighter jets are likely to fly in Ukraine's skies by the end of March 2024.

On Sunday, July 16, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that the US would not postpone training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets, and Biden allowed European countries to start training.

On July 22, Sullivan also said that Ukrainian pilots would begin training on F-16s in the next few weeks.

On August 11, media reported that the first group of Ukrainian pilots would complete training on F-16 fighter jets no earlier than next summer. The start of combat training will be preceded by 4-month language courses.

Subsequently, Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi met with the Chief of Staff of the Slovak Armed Forces in Ukraine. Among the topics of discussion was pilot training on F-16 fighter jets.

On August 12, the White House stated that the US may join the training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets on its territory if "training capacity in Europe is reached."

The spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force Command, Yuriy Ihnat, said that work on the transfer of F-16s to Ukraine is underway every day: the negotiation process is complex, with all countries in the "air coalition" making a collective decision.

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis confirmed that the country will train Ukrainian pilots on F-16s: a regional training center will be opened there.

Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat announced on August 17 that Ukraine won't be able to get F-16 fighters from Western allies during the upcoming fall or winter. Therefore, the focus will be on bolstering air defense capabilities. Concurrently, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expressed optimism about the prospect of providing F-16s to Ukraine, while Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba hinted at forthcoming positive news.

On August 18,  Dutch Deputy Prime Minister Wopke Hoekstra confirmed that on August 17, the United States approved the delivery of F-16 multi-role fighter jets to Ukraine.

On August 18, National Security Advisor to the President of the United States Jake Sullivan confirmed during a press conference that Denmark and the Netherlands had approved the supply of F-16s to Kyiv.

Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov thanked the partners from the United States, Denmark, and the Netherlands, who are ready to provide Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets after the training of Ukrainian pilots is completed.