France has said it is interested in training Ukrainian fighter pilots on how to fly advanced Western-style aircraft alongside other NATO countries, but has concerns about language barriers, according to official sources.
Sources from French President Emmanuel Macron's office at the Group of Seven summit in Japan said on Saturday that France was currently working with Ukraine to identify Ukrainian pilots who might speak French as well as English.
The pilot training courses organized by Paris are conducted in French, and it takes at least 4 years to fully train a soldier with no flight experience to become a fighter pilot.
In contrast, the sources indicated that the retraining of Ukrainian pilots who have already trained on Soviet aircraft will take between (4 and 9) months.
French sources have also indicated that Ukraine may end up supplying it with fighter jets other than U.S.-made F-16s, which Ukrainian leaders have repeatedly requested.
France does not operate F-16 fighter jets, instead largely using aircraft from the French manufacturer Dassault.
International efforts
US President Joe Biden said at the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima that Washington would support international efforts to train Ukrainian pilots in the use of F-16 aircraft.
The French president announced on Monday that Ukrainian pilots would be trained to fly fighter jets.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko on Saturday warned the West of "enormous risks" if it supplies Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets.
Asked about the possibility of supplying F-16s to Ukraine, Grushko said: "We can see that Western countries continue to adhere to the scenario of escalation, which carries enormous risks for them."
NBC NEWS reported that the United States and its allies plan to send F-16s to Ukraine.