Danish acting defense minister Troels Lund Poulsen stated that his country was ready to donate F-16 jets to Ukraine as he delivered a speech at the Folkemødet forum in Allinge, on June 17. A few days ago, Denmark together with the Netherlands committed to start training Ukrainian pilots and aircraft technicians on Western F-16 multirole fighters.
"Denmark cannot donate fighter jets all by itself," minister Poulsen stressed, adding: "It requires a coalition of countries so we can donate and maintain a fighter aircraft force for Ukraine. We also cannot decide it alone because it requires permission from the US, as the F-16 is an American-developed aircraft," as reported by Danish TV2 broadcaster.
Read more: Ukrainians Will Train on Gripen Fighters: Sweden Promises Training But Not Jets
He said he "can't imagine" the United States not supporting this decision but noted that the final decision by the government hasn't been approved yet.
The same goes for the US, too. The day before President Joe Biden supported training of Ukrainian personnel on F-16 in Europe, CNN issued a report saying the Biden administration "signaled to European allies" that it won't stand in the way of re-exporting F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine citing "sources familiar with the discussions".
Later National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan followed up on Biden's announcement in Hiroshima by saying the US was currently not going to provide F-16s from its own stocks, instead may "focus more on third party transfer, but the president has not made a final decision," quote as delivered by Politico.
Read more: How Many F-16s Can Ukraine Count On and Why F-35 Production Plays a Decisive Role in Process of Transferring the Aircraft
