NATO Member Gives Ukraine F-16 Arrival Update

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has issued an update for when F-16 fighter jets will arrive in Ukraine.

During a joint-press conference with other Nordic leaders and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Stockholm, Sweden, on Monday, Frederiksen initially said that Denmark will deliver F-16s to Ukraine "within the next month."

However, Frederiksen has now recanted her comment, claiming that she meant to say that Danish-provided F-16s will be in the sky over Ukraine in the "next few months."

Ukraine has repeatedly called on its Western allies to supply it with F-16s, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said will boost his country's air defense capabilities.

In August 2023, the Netherlands and Denmark jointly promised to provide Ukraine with 61 American-built F-16s, following a transfer authorization from the United States, in what Zelensky described as a "breakthrough."

Denmark initially said six fighter jets would be delivered to Ukraine in the new year. However, reports emerged in January that the Defense Ministry in Copenhagen had pushed the delivery back by six months. It is not clear why this decision was made.

Denmark has committed to sending 19 of the fighter jets to Ukraine, but Frederiksen revealed on Monday that the batch being delivered will only include five Danish aircraft. Meanwhile, the Netherlands has said it will send a total of 42 F-16s to Ukraine, with an initial batch of 24. Norway and Belgium have also said they will supply Kyiv with the jets.

"The first five planes from Denmark will be in the air in the coming month from now," Frederiksen said, answering a question about speeding up deliveries of Western arms and ammunition to Kyiv. A high-ranking Ukrainian military source last week told Reuters that Kyiv expects to receive its first F-16s from its Western allies in June-July.

Frederiksen also called on Western nations to "donate" ammunition and air defense systems to Ukraine.

"[Ukrainians] are fighting at the moment and it is not going into the right direction," she said, adding that the main reason for the losses on the Ukrainian side is "lack of air defenses."

Ukraine has recently faced an intense wave of attacks from Vladimir Putin's invading troops, with Russian forces launching a two-pronged dawn attack in the Kharkiv region on Sunday.

The TASS state news agency reported that the western and northern parts of the town of Vovchansk in Kharkiv Oblast had fallen under the control of Russian forces on Tuesday, with 1,500 casualties.

However, Ukraine's military denied this, saying that the situation in Vovchansk is under control. That came after Zelensky ordered the evacuation of nearly 6,000 people from the region over the weekend.

"We are adding more forces to Kharkiv. Both along our state border and along the entire front line, we will invariably destroy the occupier in a way that will disrupt any Russian offensive intention," Zelensky said, adding that fighting in the region was "fierce."

The assault appeared to confirm expectations of a major attempt by Russian forces to break through Ukrainian lines in May or June, ahead of the arrival of the F-16s.

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