U.S. Ambassador to OSCE on training of Ukrainian pilots: After F-16 there may be other aircraft

The U.S. Permanent Representative to the OSCE Michael Carpenter said this in an interview with Ukrinform.

"I'm not going to preview any future decisions other than to say, and this is actually quite important, that we have launched the process of this training of Ukrainian pilots on the F-16 and then potentially other fourth generation aircraft," Carpenter said when asked whether the U.S. administration would approve the transfer of F-16s to Ukraine.

Carpenter pointed out that Romania and Denmark are currently the host countries and that other countries may join them in the future.

"But this is a critical first step – is having the pilots trained on these very complex systems. I don't doubt that they would be useful for Ukraine," the U.S. Ambassador to the OSCE said.

At the same time, he noted that, as with any other capability, "we have to look very carefully at the added value and the cost. Is this the biggest, as we say, again, in colloquial English, bang for buck? It may be. It may be," Carpenter said.

Against this backdrop, he pointed out that there are other systems "that are very important, that also provide for air defense coverage".

"And the goal for the Western community of nations that supports Ukraine – the Contact Group, if you will – has to be to provide a layered air defense, meaning sort of point-to-point short-range air defense, a more medium capability and then a longer-range capability," the American ambassador to the OSCE said.

As reported, at the NATO summit in Vilnius, the allies announced the creation of an aviation coalition. The Netherlands, Denmark and Romania have officially confirmed that they will train Ukrainian pilots.

Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said that training for Ukrainian pilots to operate American F-16 fighters would begin in August and take at least six months.