VILNIUS, July 11 (Reuters) - A coalition of 11 nations will start training Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets in August in Denmark, and a training centre will be set up in Romania, officials said on Tuesday on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Lithuania. NATO members Denmark and the Netherlands have been leading international efforts to train pilots as well as support staff, maintain aircraft and ultimately enable the supply of F-16s to Ukraine in its war with Russia. Kyiv, which has launched a counteroffensive against Russian forces, has repeatedly called for Western countries to supply aircraft and train its pilots to fly them, to successfully counter Moscow's aerial dominance. That's why for us it is very important that this fighter jet coalition starts up," Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov told reporters. "I hope - I am an optimist - that after six months we will see results," he said.

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Persons: Troels Lund Poulsen, Oleksii Reznikov, Niklas Pollard, Justyna Organizations: NATO, Russian, Ukrainian Defence, Thomson Locations: VILNIUS, Ukrainian, Denmark, Romania, Lithuania, Netherlands, Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Slovakia