The United States has not ruled out the supply of fighter jets to Kiev by the end of 2023

Coordinator for Strategic Communications in The National Security Council of the White House, John Kirby, said in an interview on Fox News that Ukraine could receive American F-16 fighters by the end of 2023.

However, Kirby noted that the fighters themselves will not change the course of hostilities. He stressed that Ukraine needs weapons and means of defense, such as artillery, ammunition, air defense and tanks. In these areas, the United States has provided significant assistance and this is happening with exceptional promptness.

Earlier, at the NATO summit in Vilnius, more than a dozen countries united to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets. US President Joe Biden approved this initiative and supported the training of Ukrainian personnel to work with the F-16 in European countries. 11 countries have signed an agreement to start training Ukrainian pilots to control Western fighters. The training will begin in August, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said.

But the transfer of the fighters themselves to Ukraine was not considered. Representatives of the bloc said that the issue of transferring the F-16 to Ukraine will not be resolved in the near future, especially during the counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. According to the statement of the country's Defense Minister Alexei Reznikov, such a transfer is possible no earlier than 2024.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine would be considered by Moscow as a threat in the nuclear sphere from the West, since these aircraft are capable of carrying nuclear weapons.