Washington: If allies decide to send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, the US government won't stop them, according to multiple news outlets on Friday citing American officials.

The White House is prepared to permit F-16 shipments, according to sources cited by the Washington Post, CNN, NBC, and other media outlets, following months of requests from Ukraine for the aircraft, which is used by more than two dozen countries. 

The decision had already been communicated to Washington's allies, a senior White House official told NBC.

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White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, on Saturday that "in the coming months, we will work with our allies to determine when the planes will be delivered, who will be delivering them, and how many." 

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Rishi Sunak, the prime minister of the United Kingdom, previously declared that London would support the formation of a "international coalition" to provide Kiev with F-16s and other aircraft. Vladimir Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, met with Sunak this week to discuss the need for Western fighter jets for Kiev's much-touted counteroffensive.

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The US military is presently teaching Ukrainian pilots how to fly F-16s, but Washington has so far declined to give Kiev access to any of its own fighter jets. 

Moscow has cautioned against arming Kiev, claiming that doing so will only prolong the conflict and do little to thwart its military goals. The Kremlin has also claimed that Western nations are effectively direct participants in the conflict because of their military assistance to Ukraine, which includes intelligence sharing and training of troops.