Kuleba says Ukrainian pilots will return from F-16 training with jets

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has predicted that Ukraine will receive American F-16 fighter jets once the training of Ukrainian pilots is completed.

According to an Ukrinform correspondent, the Ukrainian foreign policy chief said this on national television when asked when Ukraine will receive the F-16s.

"Once the training is over. I think that Ukrainian pilots will return from training and the jets will return with them too. Maybe they won't fly directly in the cockpits, but it will be a synchronized process," Kuleba said.

He added that this week the head of state had daily meetings and conversations about speeding up the process of providing Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets.

"I will say diplomatically: I think that there will be good news soon," Kuleba said.

According to him, at this stage, the F-16 jets for Ukraine is no longer a political, but technical issue.

"This is a matter of pilot training, engineer training, infrastructure preparation and, in fact, technical transfer [of the aircraft]," the minister said.

He also noted that the American F-16 fighter jets are a symbol of any foreign aircraft.

NATO allies at the summit in Vilnius announced the creation of a fighter jet coalition for Ukraine. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said the training of Ukrainian pilots on the F-16 would begin in August and would take at least six months.