According to MSN local time on February 10, when King Philippe of Belgium received Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Brussels, he received an extraordinary gift: fragments of Russian Su-25 fighters.
Zelensky said that this is fragments of an aircraft shot down by Ukraine. Ukrainian pilots also wrote "Together we win" on the gift.
For this gift from Zelensky, some netizens thought it was too sick, and some sarcastically said why he didn't simply send bones.
Some netizens believe that the fragments also draw F-16 fighters, and Zelensky obviously wants to express his desire for Belgian F-16 fighters. In response, some netizens replied that King Philip was an F-16 fighter pilot.
King Philip, 63, joined the Belgian Air Force as a young man, where he became a trained fighter pilot.
Zelensky arrived in Brussels, the capital of Belgium, on February 9, met with the leaders of the 27 European Union countries, and addressed the EU parliament, in which he said that Ukraine was fighting to protect Europe and hoped that the EU would provide Ukraine with F-16 fighters (the number of F-16 fighters in service in various countries at the end of this article).
The manufacturer of the F-16 is the American Lockheed Martin Company, which has been in service since the 70s of the last century and is one of the most active fighters. One F-16 cost tens of millions of dollars and is currently being built primarily at Lockheed Martin's Southern California base.
Are there any fighters in Ukraine? Ukraine has about 120 fighter jets and helicopter gunships. Almost all of the fighters currently in service in Ukraine are of Russian production, such as the MIG-29, Su-24, Su-25, Su-27; Or helicopter gunships of Russian production, such as the Mi-8, Mi-24. Ukraine does not have F-16s.
Russia has reportedly been very reluctant to let its air force cross the front line because it also wants to minimize losses. That is, Russia and Ukraine have not yet come to the point of using combat aircraft.
However, Ukraine has recently been chasing Europe and the United States for fighter jets, which Zelensky has chased to Britain, France and Belgium, the base of the European Union.
After his speech in the EU, Zelensky said in an interview that several EU leaders intend to provide fighter jets, but did not disclose any details, but no EU country has publicly said that it will send fighter jets to Ukraine.
Later, Zelensky went to the Belgian royal palace to express his gratitude to King Philip, so he presented the fighter fragment.
The Belgian king asked Zelensky about the situation in Ukraine, expressing his concern for Ukraine. King Philip did not return the gift to Zelensky.
At the same time, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo posted on social media that Belgium will continue to help Ukraine, but will not provide Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets.
Alexander said because "Belgium needs fighters, we can't do without fighters." NATO defense needs fighters. "Belgium is a member of NATO. Public data shows that Belgium now has a total of 44 F-16 fighter jets.
At present, Zelensky's goal has not been achieved. US President Joe Biden said that he would not provide F-16 fighters for Ukraine for the time being, and those countries in Europe are also following the command of the United States. Since the boss did not nod, they first started Tai Chi with Ukraine.
Even Poland, which has an extremely tough attitude towards Russia, did not nod and said that it would be consistent with its NATO partners; And Britain, Germany in NATO did not nod. While Macron said France did not rule out sending fighter jets, it could also be based on his knowledge of the United States. The United States did not nod before to send heavy tanks to Ukraine, and now it is not backtracked.
In addition, the United States controls the re-export of F-16 fighters, after all, the manufacturer of this thing is an American company, and Europe does not count.
Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of the F-16, says 4,588 F-16s have been produced since its inception, and more than 3,000 F-16s are currently in service with dozens of countries.
The number of F-16 fighters (excluding F-16 models for training purposes) is more than 100 in service: the United States (775), Israel (175), Egypt (168), Turkey (157), South Korea (118), Greece (114).
Countries with more than 30 F-16 fighters (excluding F-16 models for training purposes) are Singapore (60), Saudi Arabia (55), Belgium (44), Jordan (44), Pakistan (44), Poland (36), Thailand (36), Chile (35), Denmark (33).
The F-16 (excluding F-16 models for training purposes) is also served by the Netherlands (29), Iraq (26), Indonesia (25), Portugal (21), Bahrain (17), Oman (17), Venezuela (16), Morocco (15), Romania (14), Bulgaria (11).
Why do you think Europe and the United States do not give Ukrainian fighters for the time being?