Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren says Ukraine should receive its first F-16 fighter jets this summer as Europe pushes to aid Kyiv amid
US aid to Ukraine, delayed by pro-Putin House Republicans in the US, has caused European NATO members to speed up their own assistance to the Ukrainians.
Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren says Ukraine should receive its first F-16 fighter jets this summer as Europe pushes to aid Kyiv amid complications sparked by a stalled aid package in the U.S. Congress. Ollongren told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service during a visit to Kyiv on March 21 that a plan to deliver 24 F-16s jets is on track, with the first aircraft coming from Denmark. "I think we are on track to see deliveries, first Danish this summer, and then we're going to scale up," she said while declining to give the exact number of planes involved in the first delivery. "We know that we will start with the Danish F-16s, that is now in our planning and in the Ukrainian planning. And in the end, I mean, it doesn't matter anymore. If it's a Dutch or Danish or Norwegian F-16 because [the planes are] going to be Ukrainian." The arrival of the fighter jets will be a long-awaited development to help Kyiv fill a crucial hole in its defense capabilities. Russia has used its more advanced and more numerous jets to repeatedly bomb Ukrainian cities, slow its counteroffensive, and threaten its ships exporting grain crucial to its economic survival, making Kyiv’s acquisition of modern U.S. jets a key ingredient to its successful defense of the country.
There is also talk in Europe of imposing tariffs on Russian grain.
EU eyes tariffs to 'choke off' Russian grain sales
Back in the US, contact your House member and urge support for aid to Ukraine against Putin's genocidal invasion.
With Democrats, thank them for their support; appreciation for previous efforts will encourage them to stay the course. With Republicans, ask them why they are helping one of America's most virulent enemies; tell them that Ronald Reagan would be ashamed of their tacit backing for the Evil Empire.
Find Your Representative
These 18 17 Biden district Republicans are particularly vulnerable.
^^^ 10 of those 17 are from California or New York. Most of those Republicans on that chart are from blue states. This is not something we can dismiss as a red state matter.