Ukraine’s top genaral meets Slovak Chief of Staff: they discuss pilot training on F-16

This is stated in a message on the Telegram channel of the AFU's Commander-in-Chief Zaluzhnyi.

"I was glad to welcome the Chief of the General Staff of the Slovak Armed Forces, General Daniel Zmeko, who visited Ukraine this week. We had a constructive meeting and worked at one of the command and control points. I familiarized my colleague with the situation at the front, the course of our defensive and offensive operations, and told him about the enemy's actions," said Zaluzhnyi.

Among the topics of discussion were the current needs of the Ukrainian army for weapons, ammunition, and air defense equipment.

"We emphasized the importance of training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighters,"  Zaluzhnyi added.

F-16 fighters 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.

• Defense Ministry adviser Yuriy Sak said that Ukraine hopes to receive the first modern American F-16 fighters in the fall of 2023.

• In July Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba says 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, the Washington Post reported, citing anonymous senior officials, that the first group of Ukrainian pilots will complete training on the F-16 no earlier than next summer.