F-16 jets in Ukraine to be considered as 'nuclear' threat: Russian FM

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
13 Jul 2023 13:26

Denmark and the Netherlands have taken the initiative to instruct Ukrainian pilots on using F-16 as part of an 11-nation coalition.

F-16 Planes (AP photo)

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday that Russia will consider the presence of F-16 fighter jets in Ukraine sent from the West as a "nuclear" threat due to their capacity to carry atomic weapons.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been desperate for fighter jets, repeatedly pushing for advanced jets from the West, but Kiev's international supporters had balked at doing so until recently.

"Russia cannot ignore the ability of these aircraft to carry nuclear weapons. No amount of assurances will help here," Lavrov was quoted as saying by the Russian foreign ministry.

"In the course of combat operations, our servicemen are not going to sort out whether each particular aircraft of this type is equipped to deliver nuclear weapons or not."

"We will regard the very fact that the Ukrainian armed forces have such systems as a threat from the West in the nuclear sphere."

Denmark and the Netherlands have taken the initiative to instruct Ukrainian pilots on using F-16 as part of an 11-nation coalition.

After the US greenlighted the plan, the program is scheduled to kick off in Denmark in August.

Back in May, Yuri Sak, an advisor to the Ukrainian defense minister, said Ukraine expects to receive the first F-16 fighters from international donors in the early fall as soon as the United States gives its approval for its allies to deliver their US-made fighter jets to Kiev.

"I would estimate that end of September, early October, we could see the first F-16s flying in the Ukrainian airspace," Sak said.

According to reports, Congress, US allies, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky applied pressure, which led to the provision of fighter jets to Ukraine.