Norway will reportedly donate F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, the 3rd country to do so

COPENHAGEN â€”  NATO-member Norway will donate F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, whose forces are embroiled in a difficult counteroffensive against Russia, Norwegian media said Thursday. The reports came as Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store was visiting Kyiv.

There was no official confirmation of the plan, which was reported by Norwegian broadcasters NRK and TV2.

Norway would be the third European country after the Netherlands and Denmark to donate F-16 planes to Ukraine.

The war-torn country has long pleaded for the sophisticated fighter jets to give it a combat edge. It recently launched a long-anticipated counteroffensive against the Kremlin’s forces without air cover, placing its troops at the mercy of Russian aviation and artillery.

In February, oil-rich Norway announced that it was donating $7 billion to Kyiv as part of a five-year support package, making Norway one of the world’s biggest donors to Ukraine.

The money will be split evenly between military and humanitarian assistance over five years, broken down to $1.4 billion annually.

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On Thursday, Norway announced that it would donate antiaircraft missiles to Ukraine, saying that �air defense is critical to Ukraine’s ability to protect both the civilian population and front-line infrastructure and military units against any type of Russian air attack.�

“This is one of the largest Norwegian donations of military material to Ukraine to date,� Gahr Store said in a statement.

Oslo has long said that it was considering sending F-16s to Ukraine. In January, Norway received the first of 52 F-35 jets it has ordered. The new fighter jets are to replace Norway’s fleet of F-16 planes.

Last week, the Netherlands and Denmark announced that they would donate F-16 aircraft. Denmark said it would provide 19 planes, while the Netherlands has not said how many planes it will donate.

Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky toured several European countries, including the Netherlands and Denmark, but skipped Norway.