Netherlands sees no need to send fighter jets to Ukraine

It does not make sense to send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine today. This was stated by Commander of the Armed Forces of the Netherlands Onno Eichelsheim in an interview with Breaking Defense on Thursday, November 28.

"In the long term, yes, I think we should avoid (transferring. - Ed.) too many to Ukraine because they don't have enough pilots," Eichelsheim said.

He added that situations in which a country has fewer pilots than technicians should be avoided. According to Eichelsheim, there should be a balance to assess what capabilities are needed at a given moment.

Earlier, on October 17, the Dutch authorities allowed Ukraine to use F-16 fighter jets to strike military targets on Russian territory. The defense minister recalled that soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are already using the first batch of F-16 fighter jets in its airspace.

Prior to that, the Dutch Defense Ministry confirmed that the first of the 24 F-16 aircraft promised by the country had already been delivered to Ukraine. Among other things, the defense ministry said that the kingdom is a pioneer in the development of drones and is ready to invest €400m in the development of Ukrainian drones.

Western countries have stepped up military and financial support for Kiev against the background of Russia's special operation to protect Donbass, which was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022, after the situation in the region worsened due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.