NEW DELHI: US President Joe Biden has said that he won’t approve sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.

“No,” Biden said in response to a question about the possibility of such a decision, Xinhua News Agency reported.
As he spoke, Biden arrived back at the White House from a trip to Baltimore, Maryland. Biden also said he was planning to visit Poland but didn’t yet know when.
His comment comes a day after Germany's leader also ruled out sending fighter jets. German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, recently said combat aircraft is not an item on Berlin’s list of weapons for Ukraine.

“The question of combat aircraft does not arise at all,” Scholz said in an interview with Tagesspiegel published on Sunday. “I can only advise against entering into a constant competition to outbid each other when it comes to weapons systems.”

Ukraine has said it needs the jets to take control of its airspace in its ongoing war with Russia.

F-16 Fighting Falcons are widely considered one of the world's most reliable fighter jets and are used by other countries, such as Belgium and Pakistan.
They would be a significant upgrade on the Soviet-era fighting jets Ukraine is currently using, which were made before the country declared independence from the USSR more than 30 years ago.

However, Biden has repeatedly rebuffed Ukraine's pleas for the jets, instead focussing on providing military support in other areas.
The US announced last week that it would supply Kyiv with 31 Abrams tanks, with the UK and Germany also pledging similar support.
Albeit a constant request from the authorities in Kiev, fighter jets have long been regarded by the West as a taboo in terms of military assistance for Ukraine, for fear that such deliveries would lead to an uncontrollable escalation of the conflict.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter last Wednesday that securing the provision of Western-type fighter jets are among the “new tasks ahead” for Ukraine. On the same day, the United States and Germany announced their respective decisions to send combat tanks to Ukraine.