In a press briefing on May 20 from Hiroshima, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan stated that the Biden administration doesn’t support Ukraine’s attacks on Russian territory. The press briefing is posted to the White House website. TASS picked up some of Sullivan’s comments.
During the Q&A, there was this exchange:
“Q: I wanted to ask you a question about the decision to provide training for pilots to operate F-16s. President Biden, in February, did an interview with David Muir of ABC News. And in that particular interview, he said he doesn’t need F-16s now. And then, when he was pressed, he said, ‘There’s no basis upon which there is the rationale, according to our military, now to provide F-16s.’
“Now, I realize you’re not providing F-16s, but you are providing training for those F-16s. What’s changed in any way?
“MR. SULLIVAN: Well, as President Biden said, whether in that interview or right around the same time, we weren’t moving forward then, but he also indicated that we were not taking it off the table.
“Nothing has changed. In fact, our approach to the provision of weapons, material, training to the Ukrainians has followed the exigencies of the conflict….
