Moscow will regard the delivery of the warplanes as a nuclear threat, the Russian foreign minister has said
Moscow will perceive deliveries of the US-designed F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine as a “deliberate” signal from NATO in the nuclear sphere, indicating that the military bloc is “ready for anything,” Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.
According to Lavrov, F-16 fighter jets have long been used as part of NATO’s joint nuclear missions. Russia has warned repeatedly that it would regard the jets sent to Ukraine as a nuclear threat because of their capacity to carry atomic weapons.
The fourth-generation fighter planes have been at the forefront of Kiev’s demands for military aid from the West in an effort to challenge Russia’s airpower advantage.
In an interview with Rossiya Segodna published on Thursday, Lavrov said that NATO was trying to signal it is “literally ready for anything” in Ukraine.
“We cannot help but consider the supply of these systems to the Kiev regime as a deliberate signaling action by NATO in the nuclear sphere,” he explained.
Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway have all pledged to supply Ukraine with US-made F-16 fighters, although none have so far been delivered. However, earlier in May, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced that the first planes would arrive in Ukraine “in the coming month.”
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