US President Joe Biden told G7 leaders that Washington will support training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets that could be supplied to Kyiv, a senior White House official told AFP on Friday.

Biden said the US “will support a joint effort with our allies and partners to train Ukrainian pilots on fourth-generation fighter aircraft, including F-16s, to further strengthen and improve the capabilities of the Ukrainian Air Force”, the official said.

“As the training takes place over the coming months, our coalition of countries participating in this effort will decide when to actually provide jets, how many we will provide, and who will provide them,” they added.