NU.nl regularly provides you with an overview of the situation in Ukraine. This time: encouraging news for Kyiv. The US is now supporting an international effort to retrain Ukrainian pilots. That means they’ll be flying F-16 fighter jets in no time. Also, US President Joe Biden will not stop supplying F-16s if other countries submit a request.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been asking for these advanced fighter jets for months. Several countries have expressed their support for the request.
But deliveries need a green light from the US. The fighter jets are made in America and have American technology. Also, Biden doesn’t want to provide the planes himself, because he fears the United States will be directly involved in the war.
According to senior officials in the Biden administration Reuters, CNN And NBC News Other countries are allowed to provide flights. The US will not stand by those demands.
It is not yet known when the flights to Kyiv will arrive and which countries will provide them. CNN He writes that this is still being debated. The fighter jets will arrive too late for the counteroffensive that Ukraine wants to launch.
Joint training of Ukrainian pilots for use in F-16s
Biden spoke at the opening of the G7 summit in Japan. There he expressed his support for training Ukrainian pilots in the use of fighter jets, including the F-16. The training will take place entirely in Europe. However, U.S. personnel will participate in exercises with allies in Europe. This is expected to take several months.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte writes on Twitter that he is pleased with US support for the training sessions. “Details will be released in the coming weeks.”
Rutte writes that his British, Danish and Belgian counterparts also “welcome” news from the US. “Ukraine can continue to count on the unwavering support of the Netherlands and its international partners.”
Coalition party VVD calls the US decision “an important turning point. Depending on how the Ukrainian offensive develops in the future, deliveries may be made soon,” says VVD MP Reuben Braegelmans on Twitter. He praises the “vital role” the Netherlands plays behind the scenes in this. CDA MP Derk Boswijk called it an “important step” on Twitter.
Peace Summit for Ukraine
All seven powerful Western nations made plans for a peace conference on Ukraine at the summit. In this way, insiders say they want to ensure that Ukrainian peace conditions are not hidden, as countries such as China and Brazil act as peace brokers.
A peace conference could be held in the summer. According to Ukraine’s allies, the summit should take as a starting point the ‘ten-point peace plan’ presented by Kiev last autumn. The plan includes Russia’s complete withdrawal from Ukraine. But diplomats say the G7 countries agree there should be room for input from other countries and intermediaries.
Ontvang regelmatig een overzicht van de belangrijkste ontwikkelingen in Oekraïne
Additional sanctions against Russia
The G7 nations also agreed on Friday to introduce additional sanctions against Russia. It concerns the export of machinery, equipment and other technologies destined for the “Russian war machine” and may contribute to the war in Ukraine.
Canada, Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, the United States and the European Union want to restrict Russian trade in metals and diamonds. What those barriers will look like is not yet known. Especially in Antwerp, the city of diamonds, people are eagerly waiting. Industry association Antwerp World Diamond Center (AWDC) previously said tens of thousands of jobs depended on trade with Russia.
Zelensky called on the Arab League to rally behind Ukraine
After a long week of diplomatic meetings, Zelensky will travel to Hiroshima, Japan this weekend to attend the G7 meeting. But before that, he was in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where the Arab League met.
In his speech, Zelensky accused some Arab leaders of ignoring “the horrors of the Russian invasion” of Ukraine. He called on them to “take an honest look” at the war in Ukraine. “Unfortunately, there are still some people in the world, here among you, who turn a blind eye to illegal connections,” Zelensky said. The Ukrainian president asked Arab representatives to work with Ukraine without intermediaries.
Saudi Arabia ignored Zelensky’s message. The Saudi foreign minister said Friday evening that the kingdom would remain “strictly neutral” toward Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Greenpeace is leaving Russia
Greenpeace’s Russian branch decided to close its doors on Friday after Russia branded the ecosystem “undesirable”.
“The activities of the international non-governmental non-profit organization Greenpeace International on the territory of the Russian Federation are recognized as undesirable,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
In a telegram, Greenpeace Russia said: “This decision makes it illegal to continue any Greenpeace activity in Russia. Therefore, the Russian arm of Greenpeace is forced to close.”
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