NATO to Start Training Ukrainian Pilots on F-16s This Summer
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday that the alliance will begin the training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16s this summer.
"Training [of Ukrainians to pilot F-16s] will start and of course when training will start, allies also made it clear that training may start soon, this summer and I also expect that training for the pilots will be an issue that it will be addressed also tomorrow at the meeting of the contact group," Stoltenberg said during a pre-ministerial press conference at the NATO headquarters in Brussels.
Earlier in the day, the Dutch Defense Ministry stated that a training center for Ukrainian pilots would be created in one of Eastern European countries.
"The Netherlands and a number of other European countries are working on starting to train Ukrainians to pilot F-16 as soon as possible. At the same time, the work is underway on the creation of a training center in one of Eastern European countries," the ministry said in a statement.
Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at a European Political Community press conference in Chisinau that there were numerous countries standing prepared to provide Ukraine with F-16s, the fighter jet of its choice.
Russia has slammed the possible deliveries of F-16s to Ukraine and warned that the jets will become a legitimate military target for Russian forces. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday that the supply of F-16 fighters to Ukraine would become another escalation as the jets have one modification that is nuclear-capable.
© Sputnik
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