Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned on Thursday that Russia would consider the presence of F-16 fighter jets in Ukraine a nuclear threat, but experts say he is taking the information out of context.
“We informed the nuclear powers – the United States, Great Britain and France – that Russia cannot ignore the ability of these aircraft to carry nuclear weapons. No guarantees will help here,” said the head of Russian diplomacy in an interview with the newspaper “Lenta”, quoted by the EFE and Agerpres agencies.
Lavrov warned that during a war, the Russian military will not sit back and determine whether each F-16 aircraft is equipped to launch nuclear weapons.
“We will regard the very fact of the appearance of such systems in the Armed Forces of Ukraine as a threat to the West in the nuclear sphere,” the minister emphasized.
On Tuesday, 11 partner countries of Ukraine signed a memorandum that defines the conditions for training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets.
F-16s will protect the skies over Ukraine and NATO’s eastern flank. The Air Force of Ukraine is ready to know how to use them as soon as possible,” said the Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Oleksiy Reznikov.
The training, which will last six to eight months, will begin in late summer – August or early September, and the first Western F-16 fighters will be delivered to Kyiv at the end of the first quarter of 2024. This was stated by the Minister of Defense and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba on Radio Europa Liberă.
Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Great Britain, Romania and Sweden participate in the coalition training of Ukrainian pilots in the use of F-16 fighters.
F-16s can theoretically launch a nuclear bomb
Hans Christensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, told Insider that Lavrov was taking the information out of context, and his statements could even be considered examples of disinformation.
“It’s fake news because it’s saying things that aren’t true and they’re using it in a way that I believe is intended to instill fear in Western intelligence.”
F-16s are designed to launch two types of tactical nuclear bombs: the B61 model – with an explosive power of up to 340 kilotons – and the B83 model – with a maximum explosive power of 1.2 megatons of TNT.
The B83 remained the most powerful nuclear bomb in the US arsenal after the 2011 decommissioning of the B53 bombs, which could have a yield of up to 9 megatons.
Why there is no real danger for Russia
Christensen points out that the fact that the F-16 multi-role aircraft could theoretically be able to use such a weapon does not mean that there is a real danger in doing so. First of all, the weapon systems of the F-16 aircraft in use must be converted in this regard.
Second, “[avioanele F-16] which Ukraine will receive – if and when it will receive – not from nuclear units,” he explains.
“No Western country will give Ukraine nuclear weapons or nuclear potential. This is completely excluded from the discussion,” the scientist emphasizes.
Asked about this, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby dismissed any concerns.
“The purpose of providing advanced fighter jets to Ukraine is to help it defend itself, protect its airspace and territorial integrity. Full stop,” he said at the press conference. The American official also had a direct message to Sergey Lavrov and Moscow:
“If you are concerned about Ukrainian military capability, then you should withdraw your troops and leave Ukraine.”
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Source: Hot News
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