The US on Friday approved requests by Denmark and the Netherlands to export American-made F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, marking the first step in a significant upgrade of Kyiv’s military capabilities in its war against Russia.

Washington needs to approve the re-exporting of military aircraft, a move US president Joe Biden said in May he was in favour of. While it supports other allies’ plans to supply Kyiv with their aircraft, the US has said it will not send its own F-16s to Ukraine, mainly due to concerns about escalating the conflict with Russia, a nuclear power.

Dutch defence minister Kajsa Ollongren welcomed the US decision in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “We remain in close contact with European partners to decide on the next steps,” she wrote.