Blinken says sending Ukraine F-16 jets would take ‘months and months’
Rachel Schilke
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken said it would take “months and months” to send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine but assured that the United States’s support for the nation in its war against Russia has not wavered.
During an interview on Sunday with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, Blinken said the U.S. has provided Ukraine consistent support, whether through financial assistance or equipment to help repel Russian forces.
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“At every step along the way, in fact, going back before the Russian aggression when we saw the storm rising … we made sure, going back to Labor Day before the war, Christmas before the war, that they started to get in their hands the equipment they would need if the Russians went forward,” Blinken said. “Every step along the way ever since, we’ve worked to try to get them what they need, when they need it.”
“But it’s not just the equipment itself. It’s the training. It’s the maintenance. It’s the ability to use it in combined arms operations. All of that takes time,” Blinken continued. “If a decision were made to actually move forward on the F-16s tomorrow, it would be months and months before they were actually operational.”
Blinken’s comments come as NATO allies work to arrange the training and transfer of F-16 jets to Ukraine. A senior European official told the Washington Examiner that they are aiming to send the fighter jets sometime during the fall.
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The exact number of F-16s allotted for Ukraine remains unknown, but some reports suggest that Denmark, Norway, and Netherlands could come together to provide about 50 of the jets.
In mid-July, Joint Staff Director for Operations Lt. Gen. Douglas A. Sims confirmed that cluster munitions were delivered to Ukraine from the U.S. The Defense Department also said it had “hundreds of thousands” available to provide immediately.