THE Russia makes no plans for any NATO country and will not attack Poland, the Baltic states or the Czech Republic, but if the West supplies F-16 fighters to Ukrainethen they will be shot down by Russian forces, President Vladimir Putin said.
In a speech to Russian air force pilots, Putin said the US-led military alliance has expanded east into Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, but Moscow has no plans to attack a NATO state.
“We have no aggressive intentions towards these states. The idea that we will attack some other country – Poland, the Baltic countries and the Czechs are also afraid – is complete nonsense. It’s just nonsense,” Putin said.
The Kremlin, which accuses the US of de facto waging war against Russia by supporting Ukraine with money, weapons and intelligence, says relations with Washington have perhaps never been worse.
Asked about the F-16 fighter jets that the West has promised to send to Ukraine, Putin said those aircraft would not change the situation in Ukraine. As he characteristically noted: “If they procure F-16s, and they talk about it and obviously train pilots, it will not change the situation on the battlefield. We will destroy aircraft just as we destroy tanks, armored vehicles and other equipment today, including multiple missile launchers.”
The Russian president emphasized that: “Of course, if airports in third countries are used, they become legal targets for us, wherever they are.”
Putin’s comments came in response to statements made by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba that the aircraft were expected to arrive in Ukraine in the coming months. Belgium, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands are among the countries that have pledged to donate F-16s. A coalition of countries has pledged to help train Ukrainian pilots in their use.
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