Dutch Defence Minister Kajsa Ollongren announced that up to 18 F-16 fighter jets will be sent to Romania in the next few weeks to train Ukrainian pilots.

"We hope to hand over 12 to 18 aircraft [F-16s – ed.] to Romania within a few weeks, which means that the centre can start its work," NL Times quotes Ollogren.

Ollongren said that the establishment of the F-16 training centre in Romania is "going very well".

She could not specify when her country would hand over the first F-16s to Ukraine, but reiterated that it was about 24 fighters, the rest of which would be used for training purposes.

The Netherlands, along with Denmark, leads a group of countries that want to help Ukraine get F-16s to counter Russia's full-scale aggression.

In August, Romania announced that it was waiting for the necessary documents to start training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets. At the time, the head of the Romanian government said that all the logistics for the training had already been prepared.

Earlier, the media reported that an air base in Romania had been chosen for the training of Ukrainians and that the expected month of the start of the exercises was August.