Earlier, the country’s government decided to transfer Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv, but their exact number was not named there.

Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa suggested the possibility of transferring F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine after Lisbon’s positive decision to provide Kyiv with German Leopard 2 tanks.

As the head of the Portuguese government noted in a CNN comment, his country has no “red lines” in this matter. He stated this before the EU summit.

“This is not a red line,” Kosta said.

He clarified that Portugal officially has 27 F-16 fighters. However, he gave an ambiguous answer to the journalists’ direct question about the transfer of aircraft to Kyiv, mentioning the country’s obligations to NATO.

“This is an area where we simply do not have the opportunity (to help Ukraine), given that all the funds we have are directed to missions without which we cannot do,” he said.

Transfer of F-16 fighters.

According to military experts, Western F-16 fighter jets combined with Patriot SAMP/T (Mamba) anti-missile systems can shoot down Russian S-300 and S-400 supersonic missiles.

Due to the massive missile strikes of the Russian military, Ukrainian officials are actively calling on their partners to transfer fighter jets to Ukraine to protect the sky as soon as possible.

The day before, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky personally came to Great Britain to make this issue central to the world community. He presented the deputies with a Ukrainian pilot’s helmet with the caption: “We have freedom – please give us wings to protect it.”

Against this background, it became known that Great Britain wants to start training Ukrainian fighter pilots as soon as possible.