During a press briefing on Thursday, Sabrina Singh — the deputy press secretary for the U.S. Defense Department — stated F-16s are usually not “off the table” however there may be nothing to announce but, regardless of Ukraine’s request.

Ukraine has pushed for the benchmark fighter jets all through its battle with Russia which is nearing its one-year anniversary.

“With the F-16s, again, another challenging system that would require training,” Singh stated.

Singh fielded a number of questions on F-16s however “pushed back” on the assertion that the United States doesn’t view air protection as a necessity in Ukraine. She famous that the Patriot system is a key proponent of bolstering air protection.

“In terms of what’s next, you know, again, I’m not going to get ahead of any packages that haven’t been announced or any decision by the President or the Secretary,” Singh stated.

“But I think our commitment remains, as you’ve seen, pretty forceful with Ukraine.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is hesitant to commit fighter jets to Ukraine. In an interview with German newspaper Tagesspiegel, Scholz referred to as the talk over jets “frivolous” so quickly after Germany agreed to ship Leopard 2 tanks.

“The fact we’ve only just made a decision [on sending tanks] and the next debate is firing up in Germany, that just seems frivolous,” he stated.

Scholz stated he’s in common communication with Russian President Vladimir Putin and has made it clear that Russia’s invasion is “unacceptable.” He additionally pushed again on the concept that NATO is engaged within the battle with Russia.

“We will not allow such an escalation,” he stated.

The loss of life toll from Russia’s assault continued to climb on Sunday. Russian shelling on a bridge in Kherson killed three individuals and injured one other six. The shelling struck a warehouse, a hospital and a bus station, CNN reported.