The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry claims that the West wants to “dismember” Russia and that the delivery of F-16 fighters will lead to an escalation of the conflict.
The West is “playing with fire”, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Sunday after the US gave the green light to future deliveries of F-16 fighter jets to Kiev, condemning the “unacceptable escalation”, AFP and Agerpres reported.
“It means playing with fire. There are no doubts,” Lavrov said in an interview with Russian television, a fragment of which was published on social networks by the journalist who interviewed him, Pavlo Zarubin.
“This is an unacceptable escalation” on the part of “Washington, London and their satellites in the European Union”, who want to “weaken Russia”, Lavrov emphasized.
According to Sergey Lavrov, by supplying Kiev with modern weapons, the West wants to “inflict (Moscow) a strategic defeat” and “dismember” Russia, which is regularly used by Russian leaders.
Supporters of Kyiv refused to provide the Ukrainian military with fighter jets for more than a year, fearing an escalation of the conflict, but on May 19, the United States finally gave the green light to the delivery of these F-16s, which Kyiv has always demanded.
This is an important turn in the support of Kyiv by the West, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called this decision “historic.”
The schedule for the delivery of American-made F-16 aircraft and their number are not determined at this stage, and Ukrainian pilots must be trained several months in advance to learn how to fly them.
Last week, US President Joe Biden gave the green light to the training program for Ukrainian F-16 pilots, and his Ukrainian colleague Volodymyr Zelenskyi assured that the planes will not enter the territory of the Russian Federation.
But Ukraine wants these Western jets to counter Russian aircraft and strike Moscow’s rear, at a time when Kyiv says it has completed preparations for a major counteroffensive.
The West says it wants to help Ukraine defeat Russia, but has repeatedly insisted it does not want to provoke a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia.
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Source: Hot News
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