Western F-16 fighter jets are on schedule to hit the skies over Ukraine by the middle of summer, according to its foreign affairs minister.

Dmytro Kuleba said pilot training was “going well” and “everything was going to plan”, Interfax-Ukraine reported.

“But, of course, this is a very complicated and confusing issue, so you never know how things can change. But for now, this is the schedule.”

Denmark and the Netherlands are among those slated to donate the US-made, modern fighter jets to counter Russian air superiority.

The jet was the subject of major diplomatic efforts by Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s administration throughout 2023, following the president’s successful lobbying for the German Leopard II tank.

Despite the US approving the donations in August, training was the next hurdle.

“The transition from Soviet-type aircraft to Western-type aircraft… requires major changes in everything, in education, in logistics, in the philosophy of air combat and many other elements,” said Mr Kuleba.

A coalition of 11 countries pledged to train Ukrainian pilots, including the UK.