Russia has no plans against any NATO country and will not attack Poland, the Baltic States or the Czech Republic, but if the West supplies F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, they will be shot down by Russian forces, President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday night -fair.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 triggered the deepest crisis in Russia’s relations with the West since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.
Speaking to Russian air force pilots, Putin said the U.S.-led military alliance had expanded east toward Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, but that Moscow had no plans to attack a NATO state.
“We have no aggressive intentions towards these countries,” Putin said, according to a Kremlin transcript released on Thursday.
“The idea that we will attack some other country – Poland, the Baltic States and the Czechs are also afraid – is complete nonsense. It’s just nonsense.”
The Kremlin, which accuses the US of fighting Russia by supporting Ukraine with money, weapons and intelligence, says relations with Washington have probably never been worse.
Asked about the F-16 fighter jets that the West promised to send to Ukraine, Putin said that these aircraft would not change the situation in Ukraine.
“If they supply F-16s, and they are talking about it and apparently are training pilots, it will not change the situation on the battlefield,” Putin said.
“And we will destroy the aircraft just as we destroy tanks, armored personnel carriers and other equipment today, including multiple rocket launchers.”
Putin said the F-16 could also carry nuclear weapons.
“Of course, if they are used at airfields in third countries, they will become legitimate targets for us, wherever they are located,” Putin said.
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