Putin ally issues nuclear warning over Ukraine’s new F-16s

Russia has issued a warning to the West over the planned delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine from Belgium this year.

Moscow will perceive the delivery of the aircraft as a “signal action” by NATO “in the nuclear sphere,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with state-run news agency RIA Novosti published on Wednesday.

His remarks come after Belgium pledged on Tuesday to deliver a first batch of F-16s to Ukraine this year. The two nations signed a security agreement this week that includes supplying a total of 30 of the U.S.-built fighter jets to Ukraine to ramp up its defenses amid the ongoing war launched by Russia.

“They are trying to tell us that the United States and NATO would stop at nothing in Ukraine,” Lavrov said. “Nevertheless, we hope that the Russian-Belarusian drills on the use of non-strategic nuclear weapons that are underway now will knock some sense into our opponents by reminding them about the catastrophic consequences of further nuclear escalation.”

Lavrov added: “These aircraft will be destroyed, like other types of weapons supplied by NATO countries to Ukraine.”

Newsweek has contacted Russia’s Defense Ministry for comment by email.

Belgium vowed to supply Ukraine with all 30 F-16s before 2028. Last year, Belgium, alongside Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands, announced that it would be sending Ukraine an unspecified number of the aircraft.

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said at a press briefing with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday that his country would provide Ukraine with the F-16 jets “as soon as possible.”

“Our aim is to be able to provide first aircraft before the end of this year, 2024,” he said. “We will do everything in our capacity to deliver some planes already this year.”

However, De Croo said the U.S.-made jets are only to be used within Ukrainian territory.

“Everything which is covered by this agreement is very clear: it is for utilization by the Ukrainian defense forces on Ukraine territory,” he said.

There has been a growing chorus of calls for Ukraine to be authorized to use Western weapons to attack targets inside Russia, more than two years into the war launched by Moscow in February 2022.

“Putin has only one influence mechanism, that is the destruction of life. He is not capable of anything else,” Zelensky said Tuesday. “A sufficient power of weaponry is crucial so that we can physically defend [ourselves] against Russia’s terror.”

“They are shooting at you, and you cannot shoot back at them because you do not have the permission [from Western allies],” he added.

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