War will continue until Ukraine liberates all its territories – top security official

5 September, 2023 Tuesday

21:10

Russia-Ukraine war

Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, says that the war will continue until the Russian troops leave all our territories

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Danilov said this in an exclusive commentary to Espreso TV.

"It will be difficult. I want everyone to understand that we are at war. Some may have forgotten this and think it is over - no, it is in its active phase. And until we end it, until we liberate all our territories, it will continue," the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) Secretary emphasized.

Danilov also commented on the importance of Ukraine receiving F-16 fighters in the war against the occupying Russian forces.

"If we do not have priority in the air, it is very difficult," said the NSDC Secretary.

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.
On May 25, at a meeting in the Ramstein format, it was announced that the coalition to train the Ukrainian Armed Forces with F-16s would be led by Denmark and the Netherlands and would include four other countries: Norway, Belgium, Portugal, and Poland.
On June 14, one of the leaders of the "aviation coalition," the Netherlands, announced that training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16s would begin in the coming months.
On June 15, following the Ramstein meeting, Stoltenberg said that training on the F-16 had already begun. Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin noted the rapid progress in this area, and a spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force said that they wanted a quick result, but that "the process is delayed."
The same day, it was reported that Denmark and the Netherlands plan to start training Ukrainian pilots this summer and will establish a training center in an Eastern European NATO country.
Following the Ramstein meeting, Ukrainian Defense Minister Reznikov expressed confidence that we would have a "bird coalition."
According to a Politico source, a coalition of Western countries is considering Romania as a place to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16s.
On June 22, Denmark requested assistance from the United States to train Ukrainian pilots in the use of F-16 fighters.
On June 26, Acting Defense Minister of Denmark, Troels Lund Poulsen, announced the commencement of training for pilots from Ukraine on Western F-16 fighter jets.
On July 1, President Zelenskyy mentioned that the schedule for training Ukrainian pilots on Western F-16 fighter jets has not been finalized yet, and some foreign partners are causing delays.
On July 6, media reported that Romania would become a base for training Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16s.
On July 7, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala announced at a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Prague that the country will supply helicopters and train pilots to fly F-16s.
On July 11, Ukraine agreed to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 combat aircraft with France. On the same day, Ukraine signed a memorandum with 11 partner countries to create a coalition to train pilots on F-16 fighter jets.
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.
Also on July 15, European countries which had promised to start training Ukrainian pilots on F-16s said they were still waiting for the United States to officially approve the program.
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, it was 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 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.
On August 12, the White House said that the United States could join the training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16s on its territory if "the potential for training in Europe is achieved."
Later, Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesman for the Air Force Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, told Espreso that work on the transfer of F-16s to Ukraine is underway every day: the negotiation process is complicated - all countries that are part of the "air coalition" make a collective decision.
And 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 20 Volodymyr Zelenskyy came to the Netherlands to discuss the supply of F-16 fighter jets with Prime Minister of Netherlands Mark Rutte: according to the president, a "breakthrough agreement" was reached. Netherlands will send 42 F-16 fighters to Ukraine
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 fighters and join the training of pilots. The Norwegian government also announced that the country would provide Ukraine with IRIS-T missiles.
On the same day, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Portugal would join the training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16s.
Later, it was reported that the Pentagon plans to start training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets in the United States in September: first, they will learn English, and then begin flight training.
The Polish plant plans to produce 70-80% of the F-16 fighter body structure by the end of next year.
On August 30, it became known 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.
On September 3, Reznikov said that Ukraine could start using F-16s in the spring of 2024.