United States will train Ukrainians on F-16s under one condition

The United States will train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets if European countries fall behind their schedule or if the number of pilots increases significantly.

Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh stated this in a statement, the European Pravda online media outlet reports.

According to the representative of the US Ministry of Defense, Washington is ready to take part in the training of Ukrainian pilots "if Europe's capabilities are exhausted."

"If Denmark and the Netherlands take the initiative for training, if they simply cannot do that... to train as many pilots as Ukraine wants or plans to send, then we... will help train them in our country," Singh clarified.

She added that Ukrainian pilots would need to undergo "significant English-language training" to be ready to fly the F-16s, which would take some time. At the same time, Kyiv would determine the total number of pilots who would need training.

«It will be Ukraine, and I think they are still calculating how many pilots they have that can be trained. I don't have those numbers yet,» Singh summed up.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, on Sunday, August 20, the authorities of Denmark and the Netherlands announced their agreement to transfer F-16 multi-purpose fighter jets to Ukraine, for which permission had previously been received from the United States.

Seventy pilots and aviators are currently being trained in Denmark.

Greece also participates in the training of Ukrainian pilots on the F-16.