France will train Ukrainian pilots on fighter jets — President Zelenskyy

He made the statement in his latest evening address.

"Ukraine has become stronger. We have new agreements with our partners on defense packages," the president said.

He added that they discussed the defense of the Odesa region, "What France can do to protect Odesa and the region."

"And there is a very important agreement on training our pilots in France - our coalition of modern fighters is getting more powerful," Zelenskyy said.

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 July, 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.

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.

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

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

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.

On August 20, Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that the Netherlands would provide Ukraine with 42 F-16 fighter jets, and Denmark, in turn, would provide 19 more aircraft. Greece also joined the so-called aviation coalition. The country will train Ukrainian pilots.

The US is ready to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16s if European countries do not keep up with the training process.

On August 24, during his visit to Kyiv, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre confirmed the country's plans to provide a certain number of F-16 fighter jets and join the training of pilots. The Norwegian government also announced that the country would provide Ukraine with IRIS-T missiles. 

Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren, speaking at the International Veterans Forum "Ukraine. Defenders. The Future", said that the country would try to supply the aircraft as soon as possible.

On the same day, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Portugal would join the training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16s.

Later, media reported that the Pentagon plans to start training Ukrainian pilots on F-16s in the United States in September: first, they will learn English, and then begin flight training.

A Polish plant plans to produce 70-80% of the F-16 fighter jet body structure by the end of next year.

On Wednesday, August 30, Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief reported that some Ukrainian pilots had already successfully completed preparatory activities and could begin flight training on the F-16.

On the same day, Romania and the Netherlands agreed to establish a training center for Ukrainian F-16 pilots.