Washington: The administration of President Donald Trump approved the provision of training and spare parts for F-16 fighter jets delivered to Kyiv, a deal that was previously approved by former President Joe Biden following the launch of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.

According to Qatar News Agency, the US State Department announced that it had notified Congress of its approval of a $310.5 million deal with Ukraine, which includes equipment and services to support the maintenance of F-16 aircraft. The Department stated that the proposed deal will enhance Ukraine’s ability to address current and future threats by ensuring effective pilot training and improving interoperability with the United States.

The deal, set to be paid for by Ukraine, comes in the wake of Trump’s repeated criticism of extensive military and economic aid provided to Kyiv under Biden’s leadership, which has amounted to billions of dollars.

Ukraine received its first batch of F-16s in mid-2024 after two years of lobbying President Biden, who had initially been hesitant over concerns that insufficient pilot training might lead to early losses of the aircraft. Those concerns appeared validated last month when Kyiv confirmed the death of an F-16 pilot during combat – the second such loss since the aircraft were delivered.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed in March that his country received another shipment of fighter jets, though he did not disclose how many were delivered.