Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's plan to increase the number of aircraft in the Ukrainian Air Force is realistic, Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans said on September 6 in an interview with RFE/RL.
Zelenskiy referred to the plan during a Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
Brekelmans told RFE/RL afterward that he thinks the plan is realistic because "there are still a lot of F-16s" in other countries that could be handed over to Ukraine. "There are still opportunities," Brekelmans said.
He noted that the Netherlands was handing over 24 fighter jets to Ukraine, and another 18 will be used for training. The Netherlands will also help with aircraft maintenance under a package announced on September 6 at the meeting of the Contact Group.
"We have announced a new package of 80 million [euros, $89 million] to make sure these planes can stay in the air. Therefore, we provide the entire package and support each of its elements," he said. "We provide everything we have for the security of Ukraine."
The commander of the Dutch armed forces has said that the Netherlands has not imposed any restrictions on the use and range of the F-16s it donates as long as the laws of war are observed.
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Kyiv has asked its Western allies to provide F-16s. Several countries, including the Netherlands, agreed last year to transfer several to be used in the fight. The first of the promised jets arrived early last month and were shown during Air Force Day celebrations on August 4.
The Ukrainian Air Force lost one of the jets in a crash last week that killed the pilot.
The Ukrainian military said the crash occurred during an attempt to repel a missile and drone strike by Russia. It was unclear whether the jet was struck by enemy fire or crashed for other reasons.
Zelenskiy subsequently dismissed the commander of the air force.
An investigation into the crash was launched last week, and international experts were invited to participate, Ukrainian officials said.
