Ukraine has made an official request to the Netherlands regarding the possibility of transferring F-16 fighter aircraft.

The Minister of Defense of the Netherlands, Kajsa Ollongren confirmed this inforamtion, according to NOS.

According to her, this request of Kyiv is understandable, but it is not easy to fulfill it.

“We need to discuss the availability of the F-16 with the USA and other allies. And we have to take the consequences seriously, it cannot happen overnight. We have to be honest about this,” Ollongren said.

The statement notes that before the Armed Forces of Ukraine can use these fighters, the Ukrainian military must undergo appropriate training.

It is emphasized that the F-16 is US-made combat aircraft, so the transfer of these military aircraft to third countries requires the permission of the US government.

Kajsa Ollongren does not rule out that in the long term, Ukraine will become one of the countries where F16s will be in service.

“The country will still never be able to buy Russian combat aircraft again, as it was before,” she said.

Yesterday it also became known that Dutch politicians addressed the country’s Prime Minister with a proposition to create an international coalition for the transfer of aircraft to Ukraine and the deployment of a training program for Ukrainian pilots.

An initiative group of parliamentarians urged the government to study the topic of training Ukrainian pilots on modern fighters such as the F-16 and Eurofighter Typhoon.

F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American fourth-generation multirole light fighter jet from Lockheed Martin. The F-16 is considered the most massive fourth-generation fighter jet in the world.

The Netherlands is armed with the F-16AM/BM versions of the jets, which are gradually being replaced by new fifth-generation F-35A combat aircraft.