Washington Correspondent
The Biden administration has signalled to European allies that it will allow them to export American-made F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, US media has reported.
The US has been reluctant to send any of its own fleet of F-16s to Ukraine. However, CNN reported on Thursday evening that the White House has indicated to allies that it will not block any moves they may have to send their own aircraft to Ukraine.
US government approval would be required for any re-export of F-16s to a third country given the American technology used in the aircraft.
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The Biden administration has come under pressure in recent times both from the Ukrainian government and some Democrat and Republican politicians in Washington to allow the transfer of the aircraft to Ukraine to assist with its air defence.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited several European capitals last week to seek additional military support including jets.
Ukraine has been seeking F-16 jets for some time to augment aircraft in its air force, partly as they are widely available.
A number of countries are planning to move away from the F-16s, to more modern jets, raising the possibility that some could export the aircraft to Ukraine.
The White House had been reluctant to sanction the provision of high-tech military jets to Ukraine for some time on the basis that it could be seen as an escalation of the war.
However, it has faced intensive lobbying on the issue both from Kyiv as well as from some European allies.
Earlier this week the British government announced that prime minister Rishi Sunak and prime minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte had agreed to build an “international coalition” to help secure F-16 fighter jets for Ukraine.
Downing Street said the two leaders “would work to build an international coalition to provide Ukraine with combat air capabilities, supporting with everything from training to procuring F-16 jets”.
“The prime minister reiterated his belief that Ukraine’s rightful place is in Nato and the leaders agreed on the importance of allies providing long-term security assistance to Ukraine to guarantee they can deter against future attacks”, it said.
The British statement on Tuesday came a day after Mr Zelenskiy hinted during an unannounced visit to London that Kyiv could soon receive F-16 fighter jets, saying he was hopeful of “very important” decisions soon on the subject with the help of the UK.
The report by CNN on Thursday that the Biden administration would not block the export of F-16s to Kyiv came as the president was scheduled this weekend to discuss the war in Ukraine with other top world leaders at the G7 summit in Japan.
