OSLO (Reuters) – Denmark will later this week propose an August start date for teaching Ukrainian pilots how to fly F-16 fighter jets, Danish news agency Ritzau reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed sources.
A proposal to begin training in Denmark, where there are flight simulators, will be made on Thursday by acting Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen at a meeting of the U.S.-led Ukraine Defence Contact Group, Ritzau reported.
NATO allies the Netherlands and Denmark are leading an international coalition to train pilots and support staff, maintain aircraft and ultimately provide F-16s to Ukraine, although a formal decision to supply the jets has not been made.
Dutch Defence Minister Kajsa Ollongren recently told Reuters Ukrainian pilots could begin training to fly the U.S.-manufactured jets “this summer”.
Ukraine last week launched a counteroffensive against Russia’s 15-month-old invasion.
(Reporting by Terje Solsvik; editing by Mark Heinrich)
