Zelensky welcomed the ‘’historic'' announcement and praised Rutte for making the Netherlands the first country to offer the planes. The announcement came minutes after the two leaders inspected two gray F-16 jets parked in a hangar at a Dutch air base where Zelensky arrived Sunday morning, ABC News reported.
Rutte declined to say how many planes would be delivered, nor when, except to say ‘’as soon as possible.''
On Friday, the Netherlands and Denmark said the US had authorized them to deliver American-made F-16s to Ukraine. Washington's approval was seen as a major boost for Kyiv, even though the fighter jets won’t have an impact any time soon on the almost 18-month war.
The Dutch and Danish governments are also involved in a coalition that is working to train Ukrainian pilots to fly the advanced fighter jets.
Danish Defense Minister Jakob Ellemann-Jensen said Friday that the training of Ukrainian pilots is starting this month. Officials have previously said that Ukrainian pilots will need six to eight months of training.
MNA/PR
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