NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg believes that the supply of F-16s to Kyiv will initially reinforce Ukraine’s position, but will not change the overall situation on the battlefield.
At a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels, the Secretary General spoke about support for Ukraine, noting that Denmark and the Netherlands are leading efforts to provide training, spare parts, technical assistance and maintenance capabilities “to actually make the F-16 sustainable and an important capability for Ukraine.”
Well, F-16. I think that’s a big contribution by NATO Allies to provide Ukraine with F-16. And of course, these planes also have a lot of modern equipment systems, which makes the F-16 a very potent and important weapon for Ukraine.
However, Stoltenberg also noted that there is no such system that will completely change the situation on the battlefield or in the air, noting, however, that F-16s would helpful.
“There is no silver bullet, there’s not one system that will change completely the situation on the battlefield or in the air, but well trained, well equipped, well maintained, F-16 will add significantly to Ukrainian fighting capability.”
Among the merits, he noted the contribution of European countries to Ukraine’s ability to continue the war:
The Europeans were the first to deliver battle tanks, first to deliver long range missiles, first to deliver cruise missiles, and the Europeans have also been leading the way when it comes to delivering fighter jets to Ukraine.
At the same time, the NATO Secretary General pointed out that support for Ukraine was a joint endeavour to which all NATO allies contributed.
“So the message is that the support for Ukraine is not something the United States is doing alone. It’s something actually NATO Allies, Europe, Canada and United States are doing together, and therefore we should continue to do together, all of us, because it matters for our security.”
