KYIV: The Netherlands will begin sending F-16 fighter planes to Ukraine `without delay,` Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said during a visit to Kyiv at the weekend.

Ukraine hopes the advanced US-made jets will help it gain air superiority over Russia and better protect its troops and cities from daily bombardments by Moscow`s troops.

In his first international trip since becoming foreign minister last week, Veldkamp said the Netherlands was poised to sendthejetsafterthenecessary export licenses were granted last week.

`Now that we`ve got clearance on the Erst F-16s, they will be delivered without delay, Veldkamp said Saturday in a press conference in the Ul(rainian capital.

Details of the trip were kept secret until Sunday for security reasons.

He did not provide further details or state a specific date when the first of24 promised F-16s would arrive in Ukraine.

Veldkamp is part of a new ruling coalition in which Geert Wilders` far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) is thelargestparty.

Sworn-in last week after months of negotiations, the new government as well as Wilders himself has reaffirmed the Netherlands` support to Ukraine. Kyiv has been calling for F-16s since shortly after Russia invadedinFebruary2022.

Ukrainian pilots and crews have been undertaking months of training on the advanced jets in Nato countries to prepare for their arrival. Several Nato countries have pledged to send the US-made jets touted for their precision, speed and range.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview in May that Kyiv needed around 130 to secure air parity with Russia. But Western countries have pledged fewer than 100.-AFP