Germany pours cold water on fighter jets for Ukraine

Germany pours cold water on fighter jets for Ukraine | 21 May 2023 | Ukraine should not expect F-16 fighter jet deliveries from the West in the near future, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Sunday, while expressing support for a plan to train pilots to fly the advanced jets. Speaking on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, Scholz said "what is connected with the training of pilots is a long-term project," adding that the U.S. has not yet decided what will happen at the end of the program. "The project has a message for Russia: Russia cannot count on winning if it bets on a long war," he said. Scholz stated, however, that there is no chance Germany will take part in F-16 deliveries to Ukraine. “First of all, everyone knows that we don’t even have such aircraft."