The US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, confirmed this Thursday before the Contact Group for the defense of Ukraine that providing the country with air defense systems is “crucial” and confirms that it will train Ukrainian pilots in the coming weeks. 16 combatants f.
“We expect this exercise to begin in the coming weeks. This will strengthen and improve the capabilities of the Ukrainian Air Force in the long term and complete our security agreements in the short and medium term,” he said at the opening of a new virtual meeting of that group.
This coalition is made up of those responsible for defense from all the countries that have given military aid to Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion in February 2022 and analyzes in the new assembly Ukraine’s military needs and other issues such as the training of pilots. in treatise F— XVI.
The spokesman for the Pentagon, Brigadier General Pat Ryder, had already indicated this week that the use of F-16s “is not intended” for a counteroffensive in Ukraine in the short term, because their delivery is part of a “longer effort” to Ukraine.
For Lloyd, the “most important” equipment provided to Ukraine at the moment is the air defense system: “These crucial systems protect Ukrainian skies and civilian infrastructure from Russian aggression,” he said.
In total, according to calculations, all the countries that make up this group have supplied almost 65,000 million dollars.
Russia “hoped to shake our resolve and crack down on our unity. Rather, we are united as ever and the whole world can see it,” Lloyd said, urging his allies to “dig deeper and look for creative ways to boost” their energy capabilities.
