Congress group urges Biden to unblock F-16 delivery to Ukraine ‘without delay’
A group of fourteen Democrats and Republicans in Congress have sent a letter to US president Joe Biden urging him to unblock the delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine "without delay", the New York Times reports.
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"As we saw with the initial hesitancy by our allies to provide tanks to Ukraine, U.S. leadership is crucial for providing Kyiv with additional resources and new capabilities," the lawmakers wrote.
"The provision of F-16 fighter aircraft to Ukraine is essential to effectively end this war on just terms."
The letter was coordinated by Representative Jared Golden, a Maine Democrat, per NYT.
Ukraine has long been asking for modern fighter jets, claiming that its current Soviet-era aircraft are not capable of countering offensives of Russian forces and are too old to be combat-effective.
While such deliberations are known to be taking place, no country has so far committed to delivering Ukraine modern aircraft.
Kyiv, meanwhile, is betting on a ‘jet coalition’ to be created similarly to the ‘tank coalition’, which expedited the delivery of critically needed armoured capabilities.