Netherlands, Denmark Commit to Delivering F-16s to Ukraine

 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, left, meets with Dutch caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte during his visit to Eindhoven, Netherlands, Sunday Aug. 20, 2023. (AP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, left, meets with Dutch caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte during his visit to Eindhoven, Netherlands, Sunday Aug. 20, 2023. (AP)
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Netherlands, Denmark Commit to Delivering F-16s to Ukraine

 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, left, meets with Dutch caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte during his visit to Eindhoven, Netherlands, Sunday Aug. 20, 2023. (AP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, left, meets with Dutch caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte during his visit to Eindhoven, Netherlands, Sunday Aug. 20, 2023. (AP)

The Netherlands and Denmark have said they will definitely give F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine once conditions for the transfer have been met, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Sunday as Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited his country.

Rutte said that the Netherlands has 42 F-16s available in all, but it is too early to say whether all of them will be donated.

"Today we can announce that the Netherlands and Denmark commit to the transfer of F-16 aircraft to Ukraine and the Ukrainian Air Force," in cooperation with the US and other allies, he said in a joint press conference with Zelenskiy at a military air base in Eindhoven.

Zelenskiy, who called the deal a "breakthrough agreement", said the exact number of aircraft will be discussed "a little later".

The pledge is the first real promise of F-16's for Ukraine's armed forces and comes a few days after the United States approved the possible delivery of the fighter jets by the Netherlands and Denmark.

Zelenskiy arrived in the Netherlands on Sunday and is expected to continue to Denmark later in the day. The Danish foreign ministry also confirmed its commitment to delivering F-16s in a statement on Sunday.

Zelenskiy said the planes would help strengthen Ukraine's air defenses and help its counter-offensive.

"Aircraft can speed up this process," he said.

"We are speaking about air defense, because we have the winter ahead of us and we understand more than anyone else in the world what winter without electricity is like."

The Netherlands and Denmark have led a months-long push to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16's and to ultimately deliver the jets to help counter the air superiority of Russia, whose forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Rutte said it was clear that F-16's would not be transferred right away, as it will take time to properly train Ukrainian pilots and to prepare the needed infrastructure for the use of the planes.

"The military training will start in the very near future, and then it will take of course some time for the planes to get operational with well-trained pilots, but we'll do everything to make it happen as soon as possible," Rutte said

Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov on Saturday said training had begun for Ukrainian pilots, but it would take at least six months and possibly longer to also train engineers and mechanics.

Training will take place in Denmark and Romania, officials from a coalition of 11 nations have said.

Ukraine, which expects several dozens of pilots to be trained, said last week it did not expect to be able to use F-16's this autumn or winter.

The Netherlands and Denmark have F-16s available to donate as their armed forces are transitioning to newer F-35 fighters.

On Saturday, Zelenskiy was in Sweden, where he discussed the possibility of receiving Gripen jets. 



US Proposes Ukraine UN Text Omitting Mention of Occupied Territory, Say Diplomats

 Residents Yekaterina Tkachenko, 75, and Maria Seryogova, 49, walk past ruins of buildings as they come to visit their apartments destroyed in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Pisky (Peski), a Russian controlled region of Ukraine, February 14, 2025. (Reuters)
Residents Yekaterina Tkachenko, 75, and Maria Seryogova, 49, walk past ruins of buildings as they come to visit their apartments destroyed in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Pisky (Peski), a Russian controlled region of Ukraine, February 14, 2025. (Reuters)
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US Proposes Ukraine UN Text Omitting Mention of Occupied Territory, Say Diplomats

 Residents Yekaterina Tkachenko, 75, and Maria Seryogova, 49, walk past ruins of buildings as they come to visit their apartments destroyed in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Pisky (Peski), a Russian controlled region of Ukraine, February 14, 2025. (Reuters)
Residents Yekaterina Tkachenko, 75, and Maria Seryogova, 49, walk past ruins of buildings as they come to visit their apartments destroyed in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Pisky (Peski), a Russian controlled region of Ukraine, February 14, 2025. (Reuters)

The United States proposed Friday a United Nations resolution on the Ukraine conflict that omitted any mention of Kyiv’s territory occupied by Russia, diplomatic sources told AFP.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged UN members to approve the “simple, historic” resolution.

Washington’s proposal comes amid an intensifying feud between President Donald Trump and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which has seen Trump claim it was “not important” for his Ukrainian counterpart to be involved in peace talks.

It also appeared to rival a separate draft resolution produced by Kyiv and its European allies—countries that Trump has also sought to sideline from talks on the future of the three-year-old war.

The Ukrainian-European text stresses the need to redouble diplomatic efforts to end the war this year, noting several initiatives to that end, while also blaming Russia for the invasion and committing to Kyiv’s “territorial integrity.”

The text also repeats the UN General Assembly’s previous demands for an immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine.

Those votes had wide support, with around 140 of the 193 member states voting in favor.

Washington’s text, seen by AFP, calls for a “swift end to the conflict” without mentioning Kyiv’s territorial integrity and was welcomed by Moscow’s ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, as “a good move” but stressed that it did not address the “roots” of the conflict.

“The United States has proposed a simple, historic resolution in the United Nations that we urge all member states to support in order to chart a path to peace,” Rubio said in a statement Friday, without commenting in detail on the contents of the proposed resolution.

In a break with past resolutions proposed and supported by Washington, the latest draft, produced ahead of a General Assembly meeting Monday to coincide with the third anniversary of the war, does not criticize Moscow.

Instead, the 65-word text begins by “mourning the tragic loss of life throughout the Russia–Ukraine conflict.”

It then continues by “reiterating” that the United Nations’ purpose is the maintenance of “international peace and security”—without singling out Moscow as the source of the conflict.

France’s ambassador to the UN, Nicolas De Riviere, the EU’s only permanent member of the council, said he had no comment “for the moment.”

“A stripped-down text of this type that does not condemn Russian aggression or explicitly reference Ukraine’s territorial integrity looks like a betrayal of Kyiv and a jab at the EU, but also a show of disdain for core principles of international law,” said Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group.

“I think even a lot of states that favor an early end to the war will worry that the US is ignoring core elements of the UN Charter.”