Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans said this in an exclusive comment with Ukrinform's correspondent in The Hague.
"We are happy that we can support Ukraine with F-16s, because they are necessary and important for air defense. We are not sharing any details and operational details regarding quantity or exact delivery date. And it's not because we don't want to inform the Ukrainian or Dutch public. We don't want to inform Russia, because we know that their regime is very interested in everything about the F-16. Of course, they see this as an important target. This is why we do not share information about exact F-16 deliveries," he said.
Read also: Some F-16s already delivered to Romania for Ukrainian pilots’ training - Dutch Air ForceBrekelmans emphasized that the Netherlands would continue to support Ukraine.
"All the systems that we provide require a lot of ammunition, a lot of spare parts. A lot of training is also needed for technical personnel. So we will continue to do so. And another area in which we invest a lot is drones. We see that drones are very important on the battlefield right now. And we in the Netherlands have a lot of technology and expertise that we can share with Ukraine, and that we can also make available by investing ourselves and together with Ukraine. So this will also be an important priority for us," he said.
A farewell flight of F-16 fighter jets took place in the Netherlands on September 27. The F-35 fighter jets will officially replace the F-16s at the Dutch Air Force.
Decommissioned aircraft will be transferred to other countries. In total, 18 F-16s are to be sent to the pilot training center in Romania and 24 to Ukraine.
