President Biden’s decision on allowing U.S. allies to provide Ukraine with fighter jets marks a turning point in the war between Ukraine and Russia.
President Joe Biden told reporters at a press conference at the closing of the G7 summit Sunday that Western allies were making a “long-term” commitment to Ukraine by providing it with American-made fighter jets, arguing that the decision to send F-16s to Kyiv would not escalate tensions with Russia at a pivotal moment in the war.
Biden said he reached his decision to allow U.S. allies to supply Ukraine with F-16s after he received an assurance from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that the fighter jets would not be used to launch attacks on targets in Russia.
“I have a flat assurance from Zelensky that they will not, they will not use it to go on and move into Russian geographic territory,” Biden said.
The annual summit, which was dominated by a discussion of the war, featured a dramatic appearance by Zelensky, who traveled to Japan to plead his case for more support from the U.S. and the other G7 nations.
Biden’s decision on greenlighting the F-16s and training for Ukrainian pilots was in keeping with the administration’s pattern throughout the war of first saying no to Kyiv’s demands for new, more powerful weapons systems, only to relent months later.
The administration approved Ukraine’s requests for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), Patriot missile defense systems and Abrams tanks after months of debate and prodding from allies in Europe.
But the provision of fighter planes marks a turning point in the war. The decision is an acknowledgment by the West that Ukraine may need significant military support for years to come, either to continue fighting Russia or to deter Moscow from relaunching an attack if the two sides eventually reach a ceasefire of some kind.
Biden said as much Sunday, arguing that boosting Ukraine’s air power would give the country “confidence” in its ability to defend itself if both sides make a peace agreement.
The final negotiations over the fighter jets unfolded in recent weeks and were spearheaded by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, a senior administration official said.
“There was an awful lot of effort that went into getting to that point,” the official said.
Biden’s reversal on the F-16s also represents the biggest test yet of Moscow’s red lines–the actions Ukraine and its Western allies might take that could trigger an escalation by President Vladimir Putin of Russia. So far, however, Russia has not retaliated each time the West has stepped up its military aid to Ukraine.
The administration’s approach to giving Ukraine incrementally more lethal weaponry has been praised by supporters who argue that Biden has made smart strategic calculations about how far the West can go in pushing back against Russia.
But some military analysts, former diplomats and others have consistently expressed frustration at Biden’s cautiousness, arguing that the U.S. should have started providing long-range missile systems, tanks and fighter jets to Ukraine as soon as the war began.
The criticism has grown louder in recent months as Kyiv prepares to launch a counteroffensive that could alter the course of the war, which has turned into a grinding fight along the frontlines in eastern Ukraine.
