General Milley explains delay in decision to provide fighter jets and reveals “most important task”

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley said this at a press conference following the meeting of the Ramstein Group's defense ministers, broadcast by Espreso TV.

“Regarding the issue of F-16 fighters and other equipment. First of all, this is a policy issue that our political leadership is taking. We are talking about controlling the airspace. This is one of the options for this control. We are now relying on powerful air defense and missile defense systems to prevent Russian attacks,” he said.

According to Milley, the occupied or recently liberated Ukrainian territories suffer the most.

“Russia has already begun to be cautious with missiles because it realizes that there is a good chance that Ukraine's air defense systems are actively working. They fail to hit targets. This is the most important military task today – powerful air defense systems for Ukrainians to control their airspace. Fighter jets require extensive training for pilots, so we are making the best use of our time and focusing on air defense,” the general summarized.