With Ukraine set to receive up to 140 tanks, F16 jets move up the agenda

By Euronews with AP • Updated: 31/01/2023

President Joe Biden boards Marine One at the Downtown Manhattan Heliport in New York, Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023, after speaking at an event on infrastructure. (AP Photo/Susan Wal - Copyright Susan Walsh/Copyright 2023 The AP. All rights reserved.

Fast jets could be on the table next time Joe Biden speaks to Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The Ukrainian president has made repeated requests for help in protecting the skies above his country.

Just as main battle tanks were considered a step too far until recent weeks, the idea of sending F16 fighter jets is currently dividing NATO allies.

Britain and the US have so far said no, but on Tuesday, President Biden made a strong hint that fast jets could be up for discussion next.

"We're going to talk," Biden told reporters when asked what he made of President Zelenskyy’s latest requests.

The countries on NATO’s north-eastern flank are once again much less hesitant, just as they were on the issue of tanks.

“Ukraine needs fighter jets ... missiles, tanks. We need to act,” Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu said in the Latvian capital of Riga at a news conference with his Baltic and Polish colleagues.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, Urmas Reinsalu, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, Gabrielius Landsbergis, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Zbigniew Rau, were in Riga for a discussion on the latest developments concerning security, Russia’s war in Ukraine, support for Ukraine, and energy issues.