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Jan. 31 (UPI) -- The United States will not send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, President Joe Biden said, as some Western allies mull heeding the war-torn Eastern European nation's request for the advanced weaponry as it seeks to recapture control of its skies from Russia.
Ukrainian officials have launched a campaign to secure the U.S. aircraft from ally nations, and have intensified their push following Kyiv's recent success in procuring commitments for tanks, including M1 Abrams from the United States and Leopard 2s from Germany.
Kyiv is reportedly seeking a fleet of the Lockheed Martin-manufactured single-engine aircraft to control its airspace and protect civilian infrastructure from Russia strikes.
Asked Monday afternoon after arriving at the White House from Baltimore, Md., if the United States would provide Kyiv with the jets, Biden responded by saying: "No."
Biden's one-word answer comes after Pentagon officials last week said arming Ukraine with the jets was not off the table and as Ukrainian officials suggested ally nations were inching toward the possibility of supplying them with the planes.
Over the course of the nearly one-year war, Ukrainian officials have requested increasingly advanced weaponry from partner nations, with the United States -- its largest backer with donations of more than $27 billion in military assistance -- being among those that have incrementally answered its calls.
On Thursday, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters during a press conference that the F-16s are not "off the table" but that she wouldn't state what may or may not be included in future assistance packages.
Putin No Longer Leading Ukraine Effort, Girkin Says: 'A Complete Failure'
The Russian military blogger Igor Girkin has issued his latest broadside against how Russian President Vladimir Putin is conducting his invasion of Ukraine.
Also known as Igor Strelkov, Girkin is a former Russian intelligence officer who played a major role in Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the conflict in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region.
He has given perceptive but unflattering assessments of Russia's military failures in Ukraine and his views on the military shortcomings of Putin and his commanders.
In a video posted on his Telegram social media channel on Monday, Girkin told an audience in St. Petersburg how he had predicted in May 2022 that Russia had already "failed" in what it calls a "special military operation" because there was no mobilization underway.
had appointed Chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov, to take charge of the Kremlin's campaign in Ukraine.
Wagner Group Leadership in Disarray Amid 'Significant' War Losses: ISW
The leader of the Wagner Group was locked in a spat with a nationalist rival as the Russian mercenary organization continued to suffer heavy losses in Ukraine, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
An ISW report published on Thursday states that Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin had recently been in an "altercation" with former Russian army commander Igor Girkin, highlighting "competition among Russian nationalist groups for political influence in Russia."
Girkin accused Prigozhin of "deliberately misconstruing" criticism of his political ambitions as an attack on the Wagner Group forces fighting in Ukraine. Girkin also accused Prigozhin of diverting personnel to Africa and Syria "instead of deploying his mercenaries to win the war in Ukraine."
The Wagner Group leader reportedly shot back by denying that he has any political ambitions and claiming that "his team attempted to bribe Girkin in an effort to silence his criticism of Wagner forces."
originally posted by: Bigburgh
a reply to: putnam6
I'm actually backing Biden on this. I must be feeling off.
I read yesterday that there was a possibility of F-16's being sent from Poland. So even if Biden made the right decision to not send U.S. F-16's, there's still a possibility from another country.
So far it was reported yesterday that 60 Bradley Tanks were being shipped. Whether or not that's accurate is up for debate.
originally posted by: Zaphod58
The odds of F-16s ever coming from the US were always low to non existent. The only places they could come from were active US units, meaning we weaken our own forces, AMARG, which would be 9-12 months minimum, or new build, which has a year(s) long waiting list, unless you want to piss off a customer that already has then ordered.
but they aren’t as desperate as they were.