A bipartisan group of House lawmakers is urging President Joe Biden to provide Ukraine with the fighter jets Kyiv has requested for months.
Ukrainian officials have been asking for F-16 fighter jets but the Biden administration has declined to meet this request thus far. Ukrainian leaders continue to remain hopeful, however, considering the president has changed his mind on systems to send to Ukraine multiple times over the course of the war.
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Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), Jason Crow (D-CO), Jared Golden (D-ME), Tony Gonzales (R-TX), and Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) signed a letter to Biden dated Thursday expressing their support for providing F-16s to Ukraine. Golden headed up the effort, according to Politico.
“It is in that spirit of leadership and support that we write to respectfully request that your Administration provide Ukraine with increased air superiority capability, including the F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft requested by Kiev, or similar fourth-generation aircraft, as soon as possible,” they wrote, later adding that the aircraft “could prove decisive for control of Ukrainian airspace this year.”
“F-16s or similar fourth generation fighter aircraft would provide Ukraine with a highly mobile platform from which to target Russian air-to-air missiles and drones, to protect Ukrainian ground forces as they engage Russian troops, as well as to engage Russian fighters for contested air superiority,” they added. “In contrast to the current, ground-based air defense platforms currently used by Ukrainian forces, fighter aircraft’s ability to quickly traverse a large battle space with a significant weapons payload could prove decisive for control of Ukrainian airspace this year.”
Despite the request from lawmakers, there’s a small but vocal portion of the Republican Party that wants to end aid to Ukraine.
Biden said earlier this month that they wouldn’t agree to the request, though he also said he’ll be speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, presumably in the near future. U.K. and German officials have agreed, saying they will not meet Ukraine’s request for F-16 fighter jets.
Last month, Biden agreed to provide Ukraine with tanks after initially declining. But German lawmakers indicated that they would not provide their tanks to Ukraine or allow other European countries that have them to provide them either, hence Biden’s change of mind.
Eleven countries have pledged tanks, twenty-two have pledged infantry fighting vehicles, sixteen pledged artillery and munitions, while nine more pledged air defense artillery, Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters earlier this week.
He also declared that Russia had “lost” the war already, even as both sides are preparing for spring offensives.
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“Russia has lost,” he told reporters. “They’ve lost strategically, operationally, and tactically, and they are paying an enormous price on the battlefield. But until Putin ends his war of choice, the international community will continue to support Ukraine; the equipment and capabilities it needs to defend itself. Through this group, we are collectively supporting Ukraine’s ability to defend its territory, protect its citizens and liberate their occupied area.”
Russia’s military and the private contractors they’re utilizing have likely suffered 175,000-200,000 casualties, including 40,000-60,000 killed in action, according to the U.K. Defense Ministry’s Thursday update on the war. Russia is continuing to “pour large numbers” of untrained and poorly equipped troops into Ukraine ahead of their expected offensive, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on Wednesday.
