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By Kaitlin Lewis
Night Reporter
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The first batch of U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets has arrived at a training center in Romania as NATO pushes to bolster Ukraine's air defenses.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced in a post to X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday that five F-16s donated by the Netherlands have arrived at the European F-16 Training Center. Dutch Minister of Defense Kajsa Ollongren confirmed the jets' arrival in a separate post, saying the center would open soon to train pilots from Ukraine and NATO countries on operating the aircraft.
"We keep working together to welcome F-16s into Ukrainian skies as soon as possible," Zelensky added in his post.
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The Netherlands promised in August to donate some of its own F-16s to boost Ukraine's fight against Russia's invasion. Since the fighter jets are U.S.-made, Washington had to sign off on the delivery plans. Fellow NATO members Denmark, Norway and Belgium have also announced that they will provide a handful of their F-16 stockpile to Kyiv.
"What is happening now in Gaza and the terrorist attack on Israel and all the follow-up from that will not, shall not and cannot distract us from what is happening between you and Russia, the fact that you are fighting off the Russia aggression," Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said during a recent videoconference with Zelensky.
Denmark Minister of Defense Troels Lund Poulsen announced in October that he expects his country's first deliveries of F-16 jets to Ukraine to arrive by March or April. Belgium has said that it does not expect its aircraft to arrive in Ukraine until 2025.
The U.S. Department of Defense previously said that it will lead the training protocols for Ukrainian pilots to learn how to operate the F-16s. The jets will not be made available to Kyiv to use on the battlefield until pilots are fully trained.
Ukraine's pilots at the moment are operating Soviet-era jets, and Zelensky has made several pleas for upgraded aircraft from his Western allies. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that supplying F-16s to Ukraine will not turn the tide in the war.
"They are going to supply F-16s. Will it change? No," Putin said during the Eastern Economic Forum in September. "This simply prolongs the conflict."
Newsweek reached out to the Pentagon via email Tuesday afternoon for comment.
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