the United Kingdom and the Netherlands want to build an “international coalition” to deliver F-16 planes to kyiv

The UK wants to build a “international alliance” to help Ukraine obtain F-16 fighter jets, Downing Street said on Tuesday (May 16th) following a meeting between British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte.

The two men were reunited on the occasion of a Council of Europe summit in Iceland. The measure aims to increase the means to hold Russia criminally responsible for the destruction and crimes caused by its invasion of Ukraine. Rishi Sunak ya “reiterated its conviction that the legitimate place of Ukraine is within NATO”pointed out Downing Street. “Leaders agree on the importance of allies providing long-term security assistance to Ukraine.”

Volodymyr Zelensky “very optimistic”

Rishi Sunak received Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in London on Monday and pledged to deliver anti-aircraft missiles and attack drones to Ukraine soon.

The Ukrainian head of state has been asking his Western allies for months to also provide him with planes that would allow the Ukrainian army to strike Russian troops in depth, without however constituting a miracle solution in the conflict. On Monday in London, he repeated that he wanted the establishment “of a coalition for aircraft” and said to himself “very optimistic about it”.

The UK has already delivered anti-tank missiles, artillery guns, air defense systems, armored fighting vehicles to Ukraine. It also supplied British Challenger tanks to Ukraine and trained Ukrainian soldiers to operate them.