The Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, welcomed the decision to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighters, stressing that their provision will not make NATO a party to the war with Russia.
Stoltenberg told journalists before the meeting of the defense ministers of the European Union member states in Brussels on Tuesday, the correspondent of "European Pravda" reports.
The NATO Secretary General noted that the decision to train Ukrainian pilots "gives the opportunity to make a decision on the supply" of the F-16 at a later date, which the member states of the "fighter coalition" should decide separately.
"This is an important step that will partially allow us to provide (Ukraine - ed.) fighter jets at a certain stage, but also sends a very clear signal that our support will be long-term and Russia will not be able to 'wait it out,'" he emphasized.
Stoltenberg reminded that Ukraine has the right to self-defense against full-scale Russian aggression, and NATO helps it in this.
"Helping Ukrainians to defend UN law, international law against aggressive war is our right. This does not make NATO and the members of the Alliance a party to the conflict. But we support Ukraine in its defense against aggressive war, Putin's brutal invasion," the Secretary General concluded.
Last week, Great Britain announced the launch of an international coalition of countries aimed at training Ukrainian pilots on fourth-generation fighters, including the F-16. The coalition already includes Great Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, the United States and Portugal.
The day before, US Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said that the delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine would take "at best several months."
