US President Joe Biden has said that the US will not be sending any fighter jets to Ukraine. When asked by a reporter regarding the plans of the US to assist Ukraine in managing its airspace against Russia’s continuous attacks, Biden simply replied “no.” This was a surprising answer from the president as the US had agreed to have a serious discussion with Kyiv regarding the delivery of fighter jets on Thursday. Recently, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz denied sending fighter jets to Ukraine while reasoning that he does not want to encourage bidding war for weapons. It seems as if his stance has affected the decision of the US about considering providing air support to Ukraine. This will put Ukraine in serious trouble as the country is struggling to keep up with the constant air strikes from Russia.
The position of Ukraine in its war against Russia is in jeopardy as Russia is planning on increasing the frequency of aerial attacks, especially on the residential areas across the borders. Because of this, President Zelensky has urged for aerial support from its allies, in the form of fighter jets which will allow Ukraine to have an offensive position in its aerial space. The f-16 jets manufactured and used by the US are considered some of the best fighter jets in the world because of their speed and vast applications on the battlefield. Because of this, Ukraine specially requested F-16 fighter jets from the US. Ukraine is still currently using fighter jets that were manufactured years before and are equipped with significantly outdated technology. If approved, the F-16 would have provided a significant boost to the Ukrainian air force. But so far, Ukraine has only managed to gather heavy weapon support in the form of battle tanks. The US, the UK, and Germany have pledged to send battle tanks to Ukraine which definitely will provide ground support for the Ukrainian military.
Last week, Andrii Melnyk, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine appreciated the help that the allies provided in the form of tanks, but also urged these countries to form a fighter jet coalition that can provide aerial assistance to Ukraine. As a part of this request, Ukraine has asked for Eurofighters, Tornados, French Rafales, and Swedish Gripen jets including the F16 Fighter jets from its allied countries. But so far, the US and Germany have turned down the possibility of sending fighter jets to help Ukraine. The situation between NATO and Russia seems to be the reason behind such denial as NATO never entered into war with Russia, which means that NATO has nothing to interfere with in the Russia-Ukraine war. Thus any step which would suggest otherwise is being avoided by the US, Germany, and other countries that are part of NATO. Almost all the European countries that are part of NATO have denied sending fighter jets to Ukraine. Only Poland so far has agreed to send fighter jets as long as it is in coordination with NATO. Ukraine still has to wait till 2024 to receive battle tanks from Germany, the UK, and the US, because of current production practices.
