HIROSHIMA, Japan (Dispatches) — President Joe Biden on Friday endorsed plans to train Ukrainian pilots on U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Moscow has warned Washington that this elevates the risk of direct confrontation. However, the U.S. and NATO alleged that arming Kiev does not actually make them a party to the conflict.
The Group of Seven leaders were convening in Hiroshima, where President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is to join them on Sunday in his farthest trip from his country since the war began in February of last year.
The leaders heard for the first time of Biden’s backing of training Ukrainian pilots on advanced fighter jets, as a precursor to sending the jets to Ukraine.
The G7 leaders also set out new sanctions on Moscow as well as plans to enhance the effectiveness of existing financial penalties meant to constrain President Vladimir Putin.
“Our support for Ukraine will not waver,” the G7 leaders said in a statement released after closed-door meetings. The vowed “to stand together against Russia’s illegal, unjustifiable and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine.”
The F-16 training is to be conducted in Europe and will likely begin in the coming weeks. But Biden told the leaders that decisions on when, how many, and who will provide the fourth-generation fighter jets for Ukraine to use in battle will be made in the months ahead while the training is underway.
Zelenskyy has consistently called for the supply of Western fighter jets to bolster his country’s defenses against Russia, but has until now faced skepticism from the U.S. that they would turn the tide in the war.
European allies in recent weeks have warmed to the notion of sending fighter jets to Ukraine, as have elements of Biden’s Cabinet, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who has emerged as a staunch advocate within the administration. Under export licensing rules, the U.S. needed to sign off on any allied effort to train Ukrainian pilots or to provide them with the jets.
The announcement Friday came as the U.S. and its allies also announced a series of actions meant to tighten restrictions on already-sanctioned people and firms involved in Russia’s war effort.
On Thursday, Reuters reported the U.S. Department of Defense has discovered an accounting error that could result in more weapons, ammunition and equipment being available for Ukraine than was previously expected.
The agency cited a Senate aide and a Pentagon official – both anonymous – who said that the U.S. military had “overestimated the value” of some of its hardware that was sent to Kiev by “around $3 billion”, implying that less money has been spent on arming Ukraine than was previously calculated.
The Pentagon used the current replacement costs for equipment taken from its stocks, rather than factoring in the original purchase price and depreciation, according to the agency’s source. The DOD is reportedly taking steps to notify Congress of the “accounting adjustment”.
Senator Roger Wicker, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, told Reuters that the Pentagon made a “major mistake” that could underestimate future needs of NATO allies.
However, the accounting confusion may translate into even more supplies to the Kiev government, according to the agency. As of Monday, the U.S. was reportedly down to only $6 billion in Ukraine aid, from the $48 billion approved by Congress in December. Securing more funding is difficult at the moment, due to the standoff over the national debt ceiling.