Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the F-16 coalition is working, including on increasing the number of aircraft that will be transferred to Ukraine after training Ukrainian pilots and engineers.

"The F-16 coalition is working, inter alia, to increase the number of aircraft that will be transferred to Ukraine," Kuleba said at a press conference with Dutch Foreign Minister Hanke Gerdina Johannette Bruins Slot, who arrived in Kyiv.

The minister said that on the issue of the F-16, all political decisions have been made and the technical preparation stage is now underway.

"As soon as the technical training is completed: pilots, technicians, and infrastructure in Ukraine, these aircraft will be in Ukraine," he said.

According to Kuleba, now everything is "tied to purely technical things," and not political ones.

"Today I received assurance that the obligations that the Netherlands assumed to transfer F-16s to Ukraine will be fulfilled. We are grateful for this," the Foreign Minister said.

Earlier this year, the U.S. State Department expressed its readiness to approve the transfer of U.S.-made F-16 aircraft to Ukraine by a third party. The Netherlands, Denmark and Norway announced their intention to transfer fighter jets to Ukraine.

In October, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said the first F-16 aircraft could arrive in the Ukrainian Air Force no earlier than the spring of 2024.

On November 13, the European F-16 Training Center (EFTC) opened in Romania at the 86th Fetești Air Base, where Ukrainian pilots will undergo training.

The Pentagon later said Ukrainian pilots are being trained in the United States and Europe in both F-16 flight operation and maintenance.