Denmark is “open” to the idea of sending fighter jets to Ukraine to help its war effort against the Russian invasion, the Danish defence minister said on Friday, according to state broadcaster DR.
“I won’t rule out that at some point it may be necessary to look at the contribution of fighter jets,” acting Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said.
The Danish air force has purchased 77 F-16 jets since the 1970s, according to the armed forces. Around 30 of them are currently in operation, according to local media reports.
Ukraine has this year asked Western allies for more advanced weapons including fighter jets.
The minister during his visit to Ukraine told the local broadcaster TV2 that “the decision will take time because Denmark is not going to do this all alone.”
“We have to do it together with several countries,” he added.
Poulsen said Denmark intends to hold dialogue with the US authorities before making a decision on the F-16 jet provision to the Ukraine forces. “But I envisage that we can reach a decision within a short time,” the defense minister noted.
To assist Ukraine in its ongoing war against Russia, Denmark has already donated as many as 19 French-made Caesar howitzer artillery systems to Ukraine – a move that halts its ambition to build up its own military power.
Caesar howitzers are powerful, long-range guns placed on an armored truck with a range of up to 40 kilometers (25 miles), and the sought-after artillery equipment can fire six shots within 60 seconds.
“Denmark is continuously considering donations of military material as well as financing and other material that can support Ukraine’s battle against Russia,” Defense Minister Jakob Ellemann-Jensen said earlier, after the Danish prime minister and foreign minister met in Ukraine with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Western countries that have provided Ukraine with arms have so far refused to send fighter jets or long-range weapons capable of striking deep inside Russia.
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