Russia has no designs on any NATO country and will not attack Poland, the Baltic states or the Czech Republic but if the West supplies F-16 fighters to Ukraine then they will be shot down by Russian forces, President Vladimir Putin said late on Wednesday.
\nRussia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has triggered the deepest crisis in Russia\u2019s relations with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
\nSpeaking to Russian air force pilots, Putin said the U.S.-led military alliance had expanded eastwards towards Russia since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union but that Moscow had no plans to attack a NATO state.
\n\u201cWe have no aggressive intentions towards these states,\u201d Putin said, according to a Kremlin transcript released on Thursday.
\n\u201cThe idea that we will attack some other country \u2013 Poland, the Baltic States, and the Czechs are also being scared \u2013 is complete nonsense. It\u2019s just drivel.\u201d
\nThe Kremlin, which accuses the U.S. of fighting against Russia by supporting Ukraine with money, weapons and intelligence, says relations with Washington have probably never been worse.
\nAsked about F-16 fighters which the West has promised to send to Ukraine, Putin said such aircraft would not change the situation in Ukraine.
\n\u201cIf they supply F-16s, and they are talking about this and are apparently training pilots, this will not change the situation on the battlefield,\u201d Putin said.
\n\u201cAnd we will destroy the aircraft just as we destroy today tanks, armoured vehicles and other equipment, including multiple rocket launchers.\u201d
\nPutin said that F-16 could also carry nuclear weapons.
\n\u201cOf course, if they will be used from airfields in third countries, they become for us legitimate targets, wherever they might be located,\u201d Putin said.
\nPutin\u2019s remarks followed comments earlier in the day by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba that the aircraft should arrive in Ukraine in the coming months.
\nUkraine, now more than two years into a full-fledged war against Russia, has sought F-16s for many months.
\nBelgium, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands are among countries which have pledged to donate F-16s. A coalition of countries has promised to help train Ukrainian pilots in their use.
\n(Reuters)F-16 fighters. Russia, NATO expansion, F-16 fighters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Russia has no plans to attack any NATO country, including Poland, the Baltic states, and the Czech Republic. President Vladimir Putin warned that if the West supplies F-16 fighters to Ukraine, they will be shot down by Russian forces.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":5827,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3258,383,2508,3348,1793,614,3826,2515,1392,3419,3504,466,2628,3091,292,1484,855,981,154,3522,19,2026,1731,17,1180,380,2463,1357,293,3519,18],"class_list":["post-5826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-air","tag-attack","tag-belgium","tag-change","tag-coalition","tag-f-16","tag-f-16-fighters","tag-february","tag-foreign-minister","tag-kremlin","tag-military","tag-missile","tag-money","tag-moscow","tag-nato","tag-nato-expansion","tag-nuclear-weapons","tag-poland","tag-putin","tag-relations","tag-russia","tag-russian-forces","tag-training","tag-ukraine","tag-ukrainian","tag-us","tag-vehicles","tag-vladimir-putin","tag-war","tag-washington","tag-world"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n