US Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall is convinced that providing Ukraine with F-16 fighters is important in the medium term, but will not fundamentally change the situation in Russia's war against Ukraine.

Kendall said this on May 22, talking with a group of journalists from the Defense Writers Group in Washington, reports Voice of America.

Providing Ukraine with F-16s "will create intermediate capabilities that Ukrainians do not currently have, but this will not change the situation dramatically," because "so far aviation power has not been a decisive factor" in the war, the official said, noting the effectiveness of air defense systems.

"F-16s will help the Ukrainians, but will not radically change the balance," the official added.

Commenting on the timing of the weapons, Kendall says many details need to be clarified to transfer the F-16s to Ukraine and that "will take months at best."

The US Air Force Secretary also stressed that there were other much higher priorities in helping Ukraine, and therefore the United States had not started transferring these aircraft earlier: "I think it was rational to make this decision now ... I think we need to start thinking ahead for the longer term."

Recall that on May 19, US President Joe Biden informed the G7 leaders that Washington supports joint efforts with allies and partners to train Ukrainian pilots on fourth-generation aircraft, including the F-16.

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