Providing Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets in cooperation with allies and partners is a priority for the United States.

The spokesman of the U.S. Department of State, Matthew Miller, made the statement at a briefing on Monday.

According to the U.S. Air Force, the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine may last at least several months.

“The U.S. President (Joe Biden – Ed.) made it very clear that we will start training the Ukrainian military in F-16 piloting and will work with our allies and partners to provide Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets,” the U.S. Department of State official said.

Miller also notes that he will not yet announce when and how this will happen or from which countries the fighter jets will arrive.

“But this (provision of the F-16 – ed.) is a priority for us, and we will start implementing it in the coming months,” emphasized the spokesperson of the U.S. Department of State.

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said it would take “several months at best” to get F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.

According to him, a number of details have to be worked out before Ukraine’s air force will be able to fly Western jets in large numbers.

“We are not under any circumstances going to get F-16s or another Western fighter in significant numbers into the hands of the Ukrainian Air Force in something less than at least several months,” Kendall said.

Fighter jets for Ukraine

As previously reported, a number of countries will participate in the training of Ukrainian pilots on Western fighter jets. This may take several months.

The United States has conducted training tests in flying F-16 fighter jets for Ukrainian pilots.

It will take only 4 months to train Ukrainian pilots to fly American F-16 fighter jets.