As recent as yesterday I mused that US President Biden WOULD relent and allow the Ukraine to obtain early generation F-16’s.….
THAT announcement was dropped today as the American President meet other world leaders in Japan…..
Ukraine President Zelensky has been push HARD around Europe and in Washington for the Fighter Jets…..
For the European countries the move is a win-win…..
They will begin to train Ukraine pilots up to the Western standards ….
That will take month’s….
To replace the aircraft sent to the Ukraine?
Those countries will get American Next Generation F-35 aircraft as replacement thus helping American company General Dynamic’s profit margin for the F-16 and Lockheed Martin’s for the F-35……..Remember….This jets come with parts from ALL over the planet….
Mostly America ….This IS a JOBS move....
The Biden administration has signaled to European allies in recent weeks that the US would allow them to export F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, sources familiar with the discussions said, as the White House comes under increasing pressure from members of Congress and allies to help Ukraine procure the planes amid intensifying Russian aerial attacks.
Administration officials are not aware, however, of any formal requests by any allies to export F-16s, and State Department officials who would normally be tasked with the paperwork to approve such third-party transfers have not been told to get to work, officials said.
A handful of European countries have a supply of the US-made F-16s, including the Netherlands, which has signaled a willingness to export some of them to Ukraine. But the US would have to approve that third party transfer because of the jets’ sensitive US technology.
While the US remains reluctant to send any of its own F-16s to Kyiv, US officials told CNN that the administration is prepared to approve the export of the jets to Ukraine if that is what allies decide to do with their supply…..
It seems the Defense Depot screwed up it accounting and has found THREE BILLION dollars more for the Ukraine in aid…..
(The NY Timnes image with the linked piece reveals that the Ukraine DOES have servicable airport outside of Kyiv?…Or is it
Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport in Poland…50 milkes from the Ukraine?…)
The Russians are throwing rocket’s at Kyiv fore the last few days and the Ukraine is knocking them down….
The Patriot anti-missile battery hit a few days ago is back up 100%….
The Ukraine will have LONG list of places to be fixed from bomb damage …..
Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.
- The missile attack on Kyiv caused damage in the Desnyansky and Darnytskyi districts, the head of the city’s military administration said in a Telegram post, counting it as the ninth air attack on the capital this month.
- Ukraine’s air force said it destroyed 29 of 30 missiles and four drones during the overnight strikes. Elsewhere, a young boy was killed by Russian shelling in the southern Kherson region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address. He said the child, whom he referred to only by the name Vsevolod, would have turned 6 in July.
- Russia agreed to a two-month extension of the Black Sea grain deal, a day ahead of its expiration on Thursday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced. The deal allows the flow of grain from Ukraine to countries around the world, helping alleviate a global food crisis. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the deal was extended for two months but added: “Its fate is still in the hands of those with whom the U.N. must agree on the Russian part of the arrangements.”
- Ukraine claims to have taken back territory in the fiercely contested eastern city of Bakhmut. Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said Ukrainian troops have liberated about eight square miles in the suburbs over the past few days, although battles continue in the city. The Washington Post could not verify the claims.
- After a meeting of Ukraine’s military cabinet, Zelensky said, “the offensive brigades are doing a good job, we are preparing, no details.” He also said in his Thursday nightly address that the defense brigades “fulfilled the main strategic tasks.”
- Russia called a United Nations Security Council meeting to denounce what it called “uncontrolled” arms proliferation by Western governments shipping weapons to Kyiv. Labeling donor nations “accomplices to war crimes,” Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya specifically noted Britain’s delivery of cruise missiles to Ukraine and “discussions to deliver military aircraft — fighter jets and bombers.” Albania’s deputy U.N. representative responded with accusations of hypocrisy, saying it wanted to “remind” the group that Russia had violating international law by invading Ukraine. Several members noted that, while their shipments of weapons to defend Ukraine’s territorial integrity is legal under the U.N. charter, Russia is also violating international law by receiving arms transfers from Iran and North Korea, both of which are subject to international sanctions.
- Russia on Thursday expressed objections to a move by the Czech Republic to begin collecting rent on land granted to Russia for diplomatic use under Soviet-era agreements: “The Czech Republic’s ex post facto demands for land rent for Russian diplomatic missions resemble extortion and violate the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.”
- Russia has frozen the bank accounts of the Finnish diplomatic mission in Russia, according to Pekka Haavisto, Finland’s foreign minister. “We keep saying that we cannot allow unfriendly actions to go unanswered — and we will not let them slide,” Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, told reporters. Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said in a statement that the restrictions “are a symmetric response” to Finnish restrictions on Russian diplomats.
- China’s special representative for Eurasian affairs, Li Hui, met with Zelensky and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba during his visit to Ukraine, China’s Foreign Ministry said. Beijing is willing to promote efforts to restore peace based on its 12-point proposal and will “continue to provide Ukraine with assistance within its capacity,” according to a ministry statement. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said separately that Kuleba emphasized Kyiv “does not accept any proposals that would involve the loss of its territories or the freezing of the conflict.”
- The International Rescue Committee welcomed the extension of the grain deal, which it said would help reduce pressure on food prices when exports through the mechanism reach the countries most in need in East Africa and elsewhere.
- Ukraine’s Western allies are at odds over whether to send fighter jets to Ukraine. The United Kingdom is willing to help other countries send the jets and other military equipment as part of a joint effort with the Netherlands, British Defense Minister Ben Wallace said. The United States has so far resisted the push….