The American president spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart on Sunday, on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima.
Two days after an announcement paving the way for the delivery of F-16 fighter jets to kyiv, the President of the United States promised new American arms and ammunition to Ukraine. These new shipments will include “ammunition, artillery, armored vehicles”worth 375 million dollars, said Joe Biden, Sunday, May 21, after an interview with the Ukrainian president, on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima (Japan).
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On the occasion of this meeting, Volodymyr Zelensky told him “categorically assured” that the F-16 fighter jets that will be supplied to kyiv would not attack Russian territory. They will however be active “wherever Russian troops are in Ukraine”added Joe Biden.
The dispatch of F-16s, a key step in the conflict
Fearing an escalation of the situation, the allies of Kiev, and in particular Washington, had always refused so far to authorize the delivery of combat planes, claimed for many months by the Ukrainian head of state. By reversing this decision on Friday, the United States sent a strong signal, paving the way for deliveries of American-made F-16s from other countries and supporting a joint initiative of their allies, including France, to train Ukrainian pilots.
“It takes about six months for action-capable aircraft to arrive in theatre” of the war, General Jean-Claude Allard explained on Saturday to franceinfo. However, the counter-offensive announced a long time ago by Ukraine can only be victorious by “having all means combined”F-16 included.
“We see that Western countries are still adhering to the scenario of escalation,” reacted Moscow on Saturday, through the voice of its deputy foreign minister. Deliver such gear “carries enormous risks for them [les Occidentaux]“, warned Alexander Grouchko, quoted by the Russian agency TASS (in Russian). “In any case, this will be taken into account in all our plans, and we have all the means necessary to achieve the objectives set.”