Belgian Defense Minister Confirms Plans to Supply Ukraine with F-16 from 2025: Reports
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Belgian Defense Minister Ludivine Dedonder confirmed on Wednesday her country's plans to supply Ukraine with several F-16 fighter aircraft starting from 2025, as well as to keep training Ukrainian pilots, Belgian broadcaster reported.
In September, Belgian Deputy Prime Minister David Clarinval said Belgium would consider the proposal by the government's liberal wing to send from two to four F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine in 2024, Sputnik reported.
Dedonder, for her part, said that the amount of F-16 fighter jets to be sent to Kiev would depend on the development of Belgium's new F-35 capabilities, the broadcaster reported.
In mid-July, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said any delivery of the F-16 fighter jets would lead to a further escalation of the conflict in Ukraine because the aircraft have been modified to make them nuclear-capable and, as such, represent a direct threat to Russia.