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

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.