Foreign media covered a landmark event: the visit of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskiy to the Netherlands and Sweden, as well as the decision to provide F16 fighter jets to Ukraine.
President Zelenskiy's trip to the countries of Northern Europe led to breaking a deadlock in the issue of providing Kyiv with F-16 fighter jets, as well as military and political support.
The Netherlands and Denmark became the first countries to announce the transfer of fighter jets to Ukraine. Reuters writes that the first deliveries are scheduled for the New Year. Denmark will deliver in total 19 aircraft. The first six ones should be delivered to Ukraine closer to the New Year. The Netherlands plans to give most of its 42 F-16 fighter jets to Kyiv, and use the rest to train Ukrainian pilots.
In addition to that, according to Le Monde, Norway will become the third country to transfer F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. The information about that was revealed during the visit of Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gar Støre to Kyiv. Denmark, Norway, and the Netherlands have repeatedly confirmed their support for Ukraine and are clearly aware of the importance of Ukraine's victory over the russians. For example, Norway announced back in February that it would provide Kyiv with USD 7 billion as part of a five-year support package. That is, it means military and humanitarian aid for five years.
An interesting article appeared in The Wall Street Journal, which emphasizes that Ukraine's offensive has reached a turning point, and Russia's military lines will collapse if given enough time. However, this requires greater military support from the US. For a successful counteroffensive by Ukrainian forces, Washington must supply important weapons and ammunition.
The author claims that the insufficient number of means for inflicting damage deep into enemy territory, eliminating artillery and drones is the biggest weakness of Ukraine. It needs additional long-range weapons, such as the Army's Tactical Missile Systems and the German Taurus cruise missiles to continue the bombardment for the next six weeks.
As evidenced by the review of the international media, the support of Western partners is not decreasing. The collective West continues to effectively support Ukraine in its counteroffensive against russian forces.
I thank the international partners for the systematic support of our country and look forward to further good news regarding the supply of offensive weapons to liberate the territory of our state from the occupier.
Washington has cleared the way for the Netherlands to deliver F-16 jets to Ukraine, U.S. and Dutch authorities said Friday, a potentially significant boost to the country’s armed forces, though not one that is expected to help Kyiv in its current counteroffensive aimed at pushing back Russian forces.
The F-16s—cutting-edge jet fighters that can engage in air-to-air combat and conduct air-to-ground strikes—would be the first American-made fighters in Ukraine.
The Netherlands is part of a collection of European countries plus Canada that pledged in July to train Ukrainian pilots to use the jet fighters. Training could begin in the coming weeks.
Ukraine’s offensive has reached a tipping point. Russia’s military lines will snap, if given enough time. But this requires more military support from the U.S. If Kyiv is to succeed, Washington needs to supply it with critical weapons and supplies, not gratuitous military assessments.
Support for Ukraine remains strategically sound and practical. F-16s and various long-range weapons are on the table for next year. American and European ammunition manufacturers are finally making up shell shortages that have dogged the Ukrainian military since May 2022.
But a Ukrainian victory isn’t a question of long-term support but short-term transfers. Ukraine must be sustained for the next six weeks to be given a real shot at a breakthrough that will change the trajectory of the war.
The US and its European allies are making plans for long-term military assistance to Ukraine. Western officials are looking for ways to lock in pledges of support in the hopes of discouraging Russia from thinking it can wait out President Biden for a potentially more sympathetic US administration. If Washington were to significantly scale back its support for Ukraine in that event, Europe is unlikely to be financially or militarily capable of stepping in to close the gap.
Нідерланди та Данія поставлять в Україну винищувачі «F-16». Перші поставки заплановано на Новий рік. Про це повідомили прем’єр-міністри двох країн НАТО в неділю під час візитів Президента України Володимира Зеленського.
Це є першою реальною обіцянкою поставки винищувачів «F-16» для Збройних сил України і відбувається через кілька днів після того, як Сполучені Штати схвалили можливу поставку винищувачів двома країнами.
The Netherlands and Denmark will supply F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine with first deliveries due around New Year, the prime ministers of the two NATO countries announced on Sunday during visits by Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskiy.
The pledge is the first real promise of F-16's for Ukraine's armed forces and comes a few days after the United States approved the possible delivery of the fighter jets by the two countries.
NATO-member Norway will donate F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, whose forces are embroiled in a difficult counteroffensive against Russia, Norwegian media said on Thursday, August 24. The reports came as Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store was visiting Kyiv.
In February, oil-rich Norway announced that it is donating 75 billion kroner ($7 billion) to Kyiv as part of a five-year support package, making Norway one of the world’s biggest donors to Ukraine. The money will be split evenly between military and humanitarian assistance over five years, broken down to 15 billion kroner ($1.4 billion) annually.
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