Norway commits six F‑16 jets to Ukraine's defense efforts
Norway announced that it will send six F-16 fighters to Ukraine "in the near future," Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said on Thursday.
Minister Umerov reported the decision after meeting with Norwegian Defence Minister Bjoern Arild Gram. The two politicians spoke during the NATO-Ukraine Council in Brussels.
F-16s in Ukraine
The Norwegian government decided to transfer the fighters in July. The first planes are expected to arrive in Ukraine in 2024.
Ukraine may attack targets in Russia using them
At the end of June, the Dutch Defence Minister announced that the country would grant Ukraine permission to use the F-16 fighters it transferred to attack targets on Russian territory.
- We only ask them to comply to international law and the right to self-defence as stated in the U.N. Charter, which means they use it to target the military goals they need to target in their self-defence - said Kajsa Ollongren, the Dutch Minister of Defence, at that time.
On July 31, the first F-16s arrived in Ukraine. The number of aircraft delivered in the initial batch has not been disclosed by the Kyiv authorities. A coalition of countries, including Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, and Belgium, has committed to delivering approximately 60 fighters.
