First group of pilots goes to training by end of summer - Ignat

Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesman for the Air Force Command, said this at a briefing at the Ukraine-Ukraine Media Center, according to Ukrinform.

"We hope that in a few weeks (training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16s will start - ed.), as Jacob Sullivan (US National Security Advisor - ed.) said. God willing, our pilots will leave for training by the end of the summer and return as soon as possible," Ihnat said.

According to him, it will be a group of pilots who will be trained on F-16s.

In addition, he noted, there will be groups of pilots who will undergo basic training: ground training with a transition to practical flights on various aircraft, including fighter jets.

"This will all take place in different countries, because there is no capacity to train such a large number of people quickly in one country. Therefore, we must understand that the "'aviation coalition' was created for a reason. Someone is helping with airplanes, someone is training pilots, someone is training combat engineers, etc.", explained Ihnat.

As reported, at the NATO summit in Lithuania, Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov signed a memorandum with 11 coalition member states that defines the conditions for training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets.

The coalition member states also agreed that training for Ukrainian pilots to fly Western F-16s will begin in Denmark in August.