The U.S. State Department has approved the potential sale of up to eight F-16 fighter jets to Bulgaria, the Defense Department has said.
"The proposed sale will improve Bulgaria's capability to meet current and future threats by enabling the Bulgarian Air Force to deploy modern fighter aircraft routinely in the Black Sea region," the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said.
U.S. officials said the $1.673 billion agreement was not directly related to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which comes amid continuing speculation that a NATO ally could provide Ukraine with Russian-made MiG-29 aircraft to fight Russian forces and that such a move would involve the United States "backfilling" that ally's fleet of jets with U.S. aircraft in exchange.
Bulgaria is one of the three NATO members that have MIG-29s, which Ukrainian pilots are capable of flying. The others are Poland and Slovakia.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, asked about the F-16 sale, downplayed the suggestion it could be tied to Bulgaria providing MIG-29s to Ukraine. Kirby said he would not characterize the sale as "backfilling" but did not provide further details.
Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said last month there was no deal to provide MIG-29s to Ukraine.
Even though Bulgaria is close to the conflict, Petkov said, "Currently we will not be able to send military assistance to Ukraine." He added that any such assistance would have to be approved by the Bulgarian parliament.
The United States announced during U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austins visit to Sofia on March 19 that Washington would deploy a Stryker armored-vehicle infantry company for a NATO battle group being established in Bulgaria.