Moscow hopes that prudence will prevail in the West, and Washington will abandon the idea of transferring F-16 fighter jets to Kyiv. Otherwise, it will lead to an escalation of the Ukrainian conflict. This was announced to Izvestia on July 13 by Viktor Vodolatsky, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots.
This is how he reacted to the words of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that the United States and NATO satellites, by transferring F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, pose a threat to the use of nuclear weapons.
“Lavrov made it clear that the delivery of the F-16 is an even greater escalation in the use of nuclear weapons. The inadequacy of the Ukrainian leadership could lead to the use of nuclear weapons. For example, Poland can send some charges, and Ukraine, due to its stupidity, can use them. Therefore, the desire to supply the F-16 is another provocation by the State Department and NATO representatives,” the deputy said.
At the same time, Vodolatsky expressed hope for the prudence of American officials and that talk about the transfer of fighters to Kyiv would remain as illusory as Ukraine’s entry into NATO.
On July 1, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky accused the allies of failing to deliver F-16 fighter jets to Kyiv. He pointed to the existence of a coalition of countries that are ready to start training Ukrainian pilots, but no schedule of missions has been drawn up. In his opinion, some partners are delaying this issue.
On June 27, the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, said that Kyiv hopes to receive the first F-16s by the end of 2023. According to him, almost all countries of the aviation coalition are ready to supply fighter jets to Kyiv.
Meanwhile, on June 15, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley, noted that it was too early to discuss the specific timing of the delivery of the F-16 to Ukraine.
Western countries have stepped up military and financial support for Ukraine against the backdrop of Russia’s special operation to protect Donbass, which Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24, 2022 amid the aggravation of the situation in the region due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.
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