Zelensky to get F-16s after all

If ever there was an inevitable announcement it was Joe Biden telling Zelensky that he could have some F-16 fighter aircraft after all. Biden had been very reluctant to send F-16s for fear that they would escalate the war to something even more dangerous than it is at the moment. Even now he is not saying the US will send F-16s but he will not stand in the way if other Nato countries with F-16s send them, and he is willing for US pilots to provide training. Just like the sending of Abrams M1A1 tanks and longer-range attack missiles, the US has come round to it eventually. So probably by the end of this year the Ukrainian air force will be flying F-16s and taking on the Russian equivalents in midair combat. Will that escalate the war and raise the prospect of a wider conflict involving Nato? I seriously doubt it. Putin has had so many setbacks in his war with Ukraine that he knows for sure that if he takes on Nato as a whole he will be heavily defeated. So the sending of F-16s is belated but probably the right thing to do. Zelensky has been going on about it for so long that I guess Biden and co have just got worn down. They had to give in but took their time in doing so.