Netherlands played leading role in F-16 coalition for Ukraine - ambassador

Ukraine's Ambassador to the Netherlands Oleksandr Karasevych said this in a comment to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"The Netherlands has already become a country that really made the F-16 for Ukraine not a dream, but a reality that will definitely happen. And no one doubts that. A little over a year ago, not all partners wanted to hand over sniper rifles to us. Then we moved with difficulty from sniper rifles to artillery and tanks. And today we are not just talking about F-16s, we know that we will have them. We will have them soon," the diplomat said.

According to him, the Netherlands initiated and played a leading role in the formation of the "F-16 fighter jet coalition." "It is difficult to overestimate the role of this state, their parliament, government, the personal role of Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra and Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren in the fact that we are already talking specifically about providing Ukraine with these modern fighter jets," the ambassador said.

Karasevych noted that it is not only about a training program for Ukrainian pilots, but also about the training of technical personnel to work on the F-16.

"We are also talking about training the maintenance personnel, because the F-16 is an extremely complex piece of equipment. We need to train not only the pilots, but also the people who will repair and maintain them. The work is underway, and Ukraine is doing everything possible so that we can move to important practical stages," the ambassador said.

Earlier reports said that the Netherlands would start training Ukrainian pilots on the F-16 already this summer.