Zelensky accused Portugal and other Western partners of delaying pilot training

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky this Saturday accused “some” Western partners, including Portugal, of delaying and delaying the training of Ukrainian pilots for military aviation in the conflict between the country and Russia.

“Do they have any idea when Ukraine will be able to get [aviões de caça] F-16?” Zelensky asked reporters at a joint press conference with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, referring to the West.

“Isn’t there a schedule for training missions? I think some partners are delaying [o processo] and dragging my feet. Why are you doing this? I don’t know,” added the Ukrainian president, who this Saturday will host Sanchez’s visit also as part of the Spanish presidency of the European Union (EU), which began this Saturday.

Thus, Zelensky expressed disappointment that the Western allies have committed to train Ukrainian pilots in F-16 fighters, since they have not yet announced a date for the start of training.

The so-called “F-16 Coalition” includes countries such as Portugal, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium and the United States, whose governments have pledged to train Ukrainian pilots in the use of these American-made fighters.

For months, Ukraine has been asking its allies to send these aircraft to better defend their cities and their soldiers in a counter-offensive in the conflict against Russia that began with the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

Kyiv believes that training its pilots to use the F-16 is the first step towards sending these aircraft to Ukraine.

Zelensky and other Ukrainian military leaders and commanders have insisted in recent weeks that Ukraine could conduct its current counter-offensive with much more safety and much less loss of life and military equipment if the advancing units were protected from the air by F-16s. ‘.’.

Spain is not part of the “F-16 coalition” and therefore has not committed to train Ukrainian pilots to fly the F-16.

Ukraine’s candidacy for the EU is one of the priorities of the Spanish presidency, according to a joint statement by the President of Ukraine and the Prime Minister of Spain, who are on a visit to Kiev this Saturday.

“Spain reaffirms its support for Ukraine’s EU candidacy, which will be one of the priorities of its presidency,” the statement said.

According to the same note, Spain also supports the “strengthening of the partnership” between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Ukraine, including through the establishment of a council between the Atlantic Alliance and Ukraine.

Zelensky thanked the Spanish Prime Minister for his support and “symbolic visit” to Kyiv as Spain begins its EU presidency.

During a visit to Kyiv, Sanchez said that Spain would send four more Leopard tanks to Ukraine.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and military conflict has been going on ever since.