It's time to provide Ukraine with F-16s, ATACMS – US diplomat

He said this in the program Studio West with Antin Borkovsky program on Espreso TV channel.

“I sense that the mood is changing in Washington on the ATACMS. We also need to provide Ukraine with better air defenses and aircraft. It's time for the F-16, because now Russia has adapted its tactics to allow it to launch bombs and drone attacks from behind the so-called Surovikin line. As you know now the Russians are using lots of gravity bombs that they've adapted with wings and GPS to allow the Russian aircraft to stay behind the Surovikin line, drop the bombs, and the bombs can then glide to hit the Ukrainian positions and cities. So the Biden administration had been saying that for Ukraine's counteroffensive what you need is armor, artillery and ammunition and there's no real need for F-16. Well, that changes now,” Bryza said. 

He added that If Russia is able to attack the Ukrainian soldiers and civilians from far behind the Surovikin line using gliding bombs, Russian aircraft need to be shot out of the sky and that's exactly what the F-16s can do from a distance. 

“So it's time for the F-16s and the ATACMS, and I think it's really disingenuous and sort of ridiculous that in Washington some people are impatient with the pace of Ukraine's progress and its counteroffensive, at the same time as they're saying Ukraine doesn't need these capabilities like for air cover that every US military commander would demand before ever even imagining to attempt a counteroffensive like Ukraine is under right now,” the US diplomat underscored.

• The Ukrainian Air Force needs about 160 fighter jets in total to prevent Russia from dominating the air.

• US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Friday, September 15, that the Ukrainian military will use US missiles as they see appropriate.