Poland will help Ukraine train F-16 fighter pilots. This was stated by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. However, he noted that Warsaw would not be able to provide them, as there are not many of them in service.
“We don’t have enough F-16s, so there are no such expectations from us now. We have handed over our MiGs. These are good aircraft, good fighters. And President Zelensky thanked me very much here today for our participation in the organisation of the coalition,” said Mateusz Morawiecki.
He also said that he and Volodymyr Zelenskyy had taken part in a conversation between several prime ministers about training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets, which Ukraine has long been asking its Western partners to provide. Mateusz Morawiecki said that during the meeting, the participants agreed on a specific training schedule, and Poland would also help Ukraine train pilots of these fighters.
Apparently, the Netherlands also joined in. Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on his Twitter account that he, along with Denmark, Belgium, and the United Kingdom, would start training Ukrainian pilots on F-16s as soon as possible. “This is an important step for Ukraine to be able to defend itself. I called on other countries present to join the coalition,” the politician added.
The press conference also touched upon the Patriot air defence system (Yuriy Svitlyk wrote about this system in detail – see the review here). “During this meeting, I drew attention to the importance of other countries that have Patriot systems sharing them with Ukraine as soon as possible. I can say that this meeting was very, very constructive,” said Mateusz Morawiecki.
There are too few of these systems in Poland, but, according to him, the prime ministers of several countries that have Patriot systems have promised to transfer them to Ukraine. This would be a significant help, as Russia regularly attacks Ukrainian cities with missiles and drones.
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