Denmark say Kiev must use Western fighter jets only on its own territory
F-16 fighter jets set to be donated to Kiev by Denmark and the Netherlands must only be used on Ukrainian territory, Danish Defense Minister Jakob Ellemann-Jensen said on Monday.
As reported by Reuters, the minister stressed that the two EU states will “donate the weapons under the condition that they are used to drive the enemy out of the territory of Ukraine. And no further than that.”
“Those are the conditions, whether it’s tanks, fighter planes or something else,” Ellemann-Jensen added.
Danish Conservative Party Chairman Soren Pape Poulsen has also insisted that the US-designed planes must not operate beyond Ukrainian territory under any circumstances.
“It is important that they will be used for self-defense in Ukraine. The idea is that the planes are not to be used to enter and attack Russia,” Poulsen said, stressing that “we must remember that there is a dividing line there.”
On Sunday, both Denmark and the Netherlands announced that they would provide Kiev with long-demanded F-16s, as Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky paid a visit to an airbase in Eindhoven to meet with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
During a joint press conference, the Dutch leader said that while his country was in possession of 42 F-16 jets, it was as yet unclear how many it would actually donate to Kiev. Zelensky, however, later suggested in a Telegram post that the Netherlands would hand over its entire fleet.
