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UKRAINE

Denmark likely to make decision on fighter jets to Ukraine ‘before summer’

Denmark's defence minister said Tuesday he expected the Danes and allies to decide on whether to donate Western fighter jets to Ukraine "before the summer"

Denmark likely to make decision on fighter jets to Ukraine 'before summer'
Denmark and other countries are likely to make a decision on whether to donate F-16 fighter aircraft to Ukraine by this summer, acting defence minister Troels Lund Poulsen says. Photo: Bo Amstrup/Ritzau Scanpix

Discussions are taking time because countries have to act together, acting defence minister Troels Lund Poulsen said during a visit to Ukraine.

“Denmark will not do it alone,” Lund Poulsen told several Danish media outlets, adding that a decision was still achievable “in the near future.”

“We need to do this together with several countries. We will also have a dialogue with the Americans about this,” the minister said.

Slovakia and Poland began deliveries of Soviet-designed MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine in late March and early April.

Warsaw has said it is ready to give away all of its MiG-29s — around 30.

But despite requests from Kyiv, no modern fighter jets such as the US-designed F-16 have been pledged, and Washington has so far said it would
not send fighter jets.

The Netherlands and France have not ruled out sending jets and in February Britain offered to train Ukrainian fighter pilots.

Denmark has a fleet of 43 US-designed F-16s, 30 of which are in active service.

The fleet is being replaced by the more modern F-35, of which Denmark has purchased 27.

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MILITARY

US troops to mount exercise on Danish Baltic island

US troops are planning to take part in a military exercise on the island of Bornholm next month, marking the third time in three years US soldiers have trained on Danish soil.

US troops to mount exercise on Danish Baltic island

Denmark’s defence minister, Troels Lund Poulsen, revealed the planned exercise, which will take plance between May 1st and May 7th in a briefing to the Danish parliament’s defence committee.

As part of the exercise, US troops will ship an unnamed weapons system to Bornholm Airport, and then set it up in a military exercise area, but would not then fire any shots or missiles. 

“The exercise has a military training aspect, but also sends a signal about the solidarity of the alliance, about American commitment to security in Europe and in our own immediate area,” Lund Poulsen said in the briefing.

US troops took part in similar exercises in 2022 and 2023 on the strategically placed island, which lies 360km away from the Russian and controls access to the western Baltic. 

The US had requested permission to train on Bornholm, which the Danish government then accepted. There is no change in Danish armed forces’ assessment of the threat against Bornholm or Denmark, Lund Poulsen stressed. 

In December, Denmark entered into an agreement with the US, which permits US soldiers and equipment to be kept permanently on Danish soil, with hte US granted access to the Karup, Skrydstrup and Aalborg air bases.

When US troops held a similar exercise on the island in 2022, with a large missile system deployed to the island, the Russian ambassador to Denmark sent an official warning. 

“This can be seen as taking a step towards changing Bornholm from an island of peace to a potential military bridgehead,” Russia’s ambassador to Denmark, Vladimir Barbin, told the Danish broadcaster TV2.

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