Belgium will not be able to transfer F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine until the end of the year

Belgium will not be able to send the promised US F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine by the end of the year. This was reported by the publication Le Soir on December 18, citing the country's Defense Minister Ludivine Dedonder.

"The first delivery of fighter-bombers F-16 will not be possible this year, as announced," - stated in the material.

It is specified that the Minister of defense said that the fighter jets will not be delivered to Ukraine during her visit to Poland. Dedonder explained the impossibility of supply by the lack of spare parts and the lack of properly trained Ukrainian pilots.

Earlier, on December 7, Denmark handed over the second batch of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. The exact number of airplanes is unknown.

Before that, on August 27, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (his term of office expired on May 20) for the first time announced that the Ukrainian military was using the F-16s transferred to Kiev - allegedly to repel drone and missile strikes. One of the fighter jets soon crashed and its pilot was killed.

In the first half of July, Denmark and the Netherlands began transferring F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. The arrival of the first planes in the country was reported at the end of the same month. According to The Economist, the Ukrainian army received 10 fighter jets.

Experts have repeatedly noted that the use of F-16s will not change the situation on the battlefield for the Ukrainian troops. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized that these fighter jets would be destroyed and would not affect the dynamics of the situation on the front.

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.