NATO member OK’s using its jets to strike Russia

Unlike Belgium, the Netherlands will not limit Ukraine in how it deploys donated F-16s, the kingdom’s defense minister has said

Kiev will be allowed to use the 24 F-16 fighter jets that it is slated to receive from the Netherlands however it sees fit, Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren has told Politico.

The approach contrasts with that of Belgium, a partner in the so-called ‘F-16 coalition’, which has offered 30 fighter jets to Ukraine. Its Prime Minister Alexander De Croo maintains that any weapons supplied by his nation can only be used inside the territory claimed by Kiev as Ukrainian, including the aircraft.

“There is not” a Belgian-style restriction, Ollongren told the news outlet on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, as quoted on Monday.

“We are applying the same principle that we have applied to every other delivery of capabilities, which is: once we hand it over to Ukraine, it’s theirs to use,” she explained. The Dutch government only requires its arms to be used in compliance with international law, the minister said.

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Western nations have offered Ukrainian pilots training courses on how to operate the US-designed fighter jets. The long-promised transfer of the aircraft to Kiev’s control may start within months, according to statements by coalition members. The group also includes Denmark and Norway.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said last week that Kiev could potentially use the 19 F-16s pledged by his government to weaken Moscow’s forces “by taking out military facilities on Russian territory.”

Ukrainian officials expect US military technology to turn the tide on the battlefield in Kiev’s favor. Russia currently has overwhelming air superiority on the front line.

Moscow perceives the promised boost to Kiev’s air power as escalatory and a potential nuclear risk, considering that F-16s are capable of deploying American B61 nuclear gravity bombs. Some of those weapons are stored outside of the US, including in Belgium, as part of NATO’s nuclear-sharing scheme.