“The last obstacle remained,” commented the Romanian Prime Minister on the training of Ukrainian pilots on the F-16

Romania is ready to start training Ukrainian pilots for F-16 fighters and is currently waiting for the relevant documents.

This was stated by Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Čolaku in an interview with the Financial Times.

"I expect documents will be drawn up in the coming days (for training pilots - editorial note), and this is the last hurdle," said Cholaku.

According to him, all logistics are ready.

Earlier, on August 20, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced that her country would supply Ukraine with 19 F-16 fighters.

Earlier on August 18, the foreign ministers of Denmark Lars Lücke Rasmussen and the Netherlands Wopke Hoekstra confirmed that they had received US approval for the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine after pilot training.

What is known about the transfer of Western fighters to Ukraine

On May 19, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced the readiness of the United States to approve the training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighters. Belgium and Denmark will join the “air coalition”. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that the United States may agree to provide Ukraine with modern combat aircraft, including the F-16, if they will not be used for attacks on the territory of the Russian Federation.

On May 21, during the G7 summit, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed his readiness to help train Ukrainian military pilots.

After the G7 summit, it turned out that the US unblocked the training of Ukrainian pilots on fighter jets and the provision of air transport to other countries. Biden confirmed the U.S. intention to train Ukrainian pilots on the F-16, but noted that Kyiv had promised not to use them for attacks on Russian territory.

At the G7 summit, there were talks with partners about the training of Ukrainian pilots, but it is too early to talk about the full handover of the machines, said Jake Sullivan, US national security adviser.

On May 22, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that supplying Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets is a priority for the US and other allies. The partners will start implementing the corresponding plan in the coming months.

On May 23, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Ukraine's western allies would individually decide when to start training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets.