Zelenskyy from Ukraine is in the Netherlands because the US authorized deploying Dutch F-16 aircraft to Ukraine

Two days after the government announced that the United States had granted its consent for Dutch and Danish authorities to send F-16 fighter planes to Ukraine’s air force, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy landed in the Netherlands on Sunday.

At a military aviation base in the southern city of Eindhoven, Zelenskyy will meet Mark Rutte, the prime minister of the Netherlands. A day before, the Ukrainian president was in Sweden.

Even though the American-made fighter planes won’t have an immediate effect on the almost 18-month battle, the US’s permission Friday for the Netherlands and Denmark to transfer F-16s to Ukraine was regarded as a huge victory for Kiev.

Ukraine has long argued that it needs the advanced fighter to give it a competitive advantage. Without air support, it just started a long-awaited counteroffensive against the Kremlin’s forces, leaving its soldiers vulnerable to Russian aircraft and artillery.

The governments of the Netherlands and Denmark are also a part of a coalition that strives to educate Ukrainian pilots to operate the cutting-edge fighter planes.

According to Jakob Ellemann-Jensen, the defense minister of Denmark, Ukrainian pilot training will begin this month. Ukrainian pilots will need six to eight months of training, according to officials.

According to Washington, the F-16s will be essential in the long run as Kyiv contends with Russia, much like the cutting-edge US Abrams tanks.

Ukraine has been using outdated aircraft, such MiG29 and Sukhoi fighters built in Russia. The technology and targeting capability of the F-16 are more modern. Experts also claim that they are more adaptable.

Zelenskyy promised a severe response in a video message earlier on Sunday in response to a Russian missile attack that occurred the day before in Chernihiv, a city in northern Ukraine, leaving seven people dead and over 100 others injured.