The president of the United States, Joe Biden, ruled out sending F-16 fighters to Ukraine "for now", as his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodimir Zelensky, has asked.
"He doesn't need an F-16 now," Biden said in an interview on ABC that aired Friday.
The president argued that, at the moment, there are no logical reasons to send the fighters, according to the criteria of the US military leaders.
This Friday, one year after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the US Department of Defense announced the shipment of a new military aid package to Kiev worth 2,000 million dollars that includes HIMARS missiles, artillery ammunition and drones.
In addition, the Democrat government announced a myriad of new economic and diplomatic sanctions against Russian citizens and companies.
All these measures put the finishing touch to a week that began with a surprise visit by Biden himself to kyiv, where he met with Zelensky to express his unwavering support for him.
The two leaders met at the Mariinsky Palace in the Ukrainian capital and later appeared before the press.
"One year later, Kiev still stands. Ukraine stands and democracy stands. America stands by you and the whole world stands by you," Biden proclaimed, surrounded by American and Ukrainian flags.
