Spain cannot provide Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets because it did not have that aircraft, Spanish defence minister Margarita Robles said on Tuesday.

“We are supporting Ukraine, and we will continue to support Ukraine because we think we have to be and remain united, but Spain does not have F-16s at the moment,” she said.

Ms Robles said this before a meeting of EU defence ministers in Brussels.

The minister added that although Spain had trained over a thousand Ukrainian soldiers and several medics, Madrid had no resources to train Ukrainian pilots in using F-16 fighter jets.

Earlier in the day, EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said the F-16 training programme had already begun in some European countries.

NATO allies recently pledged to supply Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets, the latest addition to the list of lethal weapons the collective West has provided to Ukraine as it gears up for a counter-offensive against Russian forces.

Russian ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, said the possible transfer of F-16s to Ukraine raised the question of NATO’s involvement in the conflict.

(Sputnik/NAN)