The Swedish authorities decided today not to send Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine, since the partner countries will first deliver American F-16s there.
"Other countries asked us to wait before giving away the Gripens," Swedish Defense Ministry spokesman Pal Jonsson told AFP.
The decision was announced in Brussels, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croix initialed a bilateral cooperation agreement that includes the delivery of 30 F-16 aircraft to Belgium by 2028.
"Our coalition partners emphasize that the simultaneous introduction of two air combat systems is very complex and that now the priority is the introduction of the F-16 system into the Ukrainian Air Force," Jonson said.
The Netherlands and Denmark lead a coalition of 11 countries that have promised to deliver those American-made fighter jets to Ukraine and train Ukrainian pilots who, like the technicians, are currently being trained in Denmark.
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