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Ukraine needs to demonstrate some “advances” over the next five months as the US would consider these crucial to the future of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev, Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing several European and American officials.

Washington has to show that the massive military support the US and its allies have been providing to Ukraine has not been in vain, the paper also said.

“It is important for America to sell this war as a successful one, as well as for domestic purposes to prove that all of those aid packages have been successful in terms of Ukrainian advances,” a European official told the FT.

The polls show that public support for Ukraine is waning in the US, and President Biden’s administration has to show that the tens of billions of dollars it spent on assistance for Kiev made a major difference on the frontlines, the media outlet said.

According to FT sources, Washington believes the next five months are critical to the outcome of the conflict. “If we get to September and Ukraine has not made significant gains, then the international pressure on [the West] to bring them to negotiations will be enormous,” another source told the FT, on condition of anonymity.

US money for Ukraine running out – Politico
Read more US money for Ukraine running out – Politico
September will see the UN General Assembly and G20 leaders’ summit take place one after another. Both events could be used to make the warring parties sit down at a negotiating table, FT said.

The Western military support for Kiev is also about to reach its limits, the sources warned. “The message [to Kiev] is basically that this is the best you’re going to get,” a European official told the paper. “There’s no more flexibility in the US budget to keep writing checks, and European arms factories are running at full capacity.”

The US continues to be Ukraine’s biggest backer when it comes to arms supplies. Washington’s allies are concerned about its capacity to keep up the same level of support and expect it to go down in 2024 and a US presidential election. “We can’t keep the same level of assistance forever,” a European official said, adding that the current level of support might be sustained for a year or two but no longer.

Despite the desire of several European countries for Ukraine to receive the F-16, the situation continues not in favor of Kyiv. In the last 48 hours, it has become clear that Great Britain and the Netherlands will try to persuade the United States to allow the re-export of F-16s to Ukraine.


However, the situation is not exactly “so positive and right” for Ukraine as some sources describe it. Currently, there is a gap in relations between the US and its partners, as the New York Times [NYT] writes.

A high-ranking Ukrainian official, who wished to remain anonymous, told reporters of the American newspaper that they [Ukrainian pilots] currently do not have the right or permission from Washington to board F-16 fighters from the inventory of European operators. I.e. Washington does not allow training of Ukrainian F-16 pilots.

Washington continues to believe that Ukraine does not need the F-16. This opinion has been shared since last year and the White House continues to follow this policy line until now. The NYT writes that “so deep is Washington’s skepticism that Kyiv’s pilots are currently not even allowed to train on the F-16.”

BulgarianMilitary.com reminds us that only the US has the right to determine what will happen to the US-made F-16 fighters. So far, any statement from any European country is just wishful thinking for something to happen. But this thing [F-16 training or F-16 re-export] cannot happen without permission from Washington.


We have analyzed several times that the F-16 has no place to land in Ukraine. This fighter needs a dedicated runway and hangar to service it. I.e. all it takes is for Russian artillery and aerospace forces to hit an airport runway or foul it, and the F-16 can’t take off.

West told Zelensky that the war with Russia will not be won
Photo credit: Shutterstock
Based on this fact, the F-16 cannot land on rough runways, let alone roads or highways. However, Gripen, MiG-29, and Su-27 can do it. What’s more, they can even take off from shorter runways, which is to the great advantage of Ukraine, regarding a new tactic of deploying the planes.

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