World War III looms as NATO gives Ukraine the go-ahead to strike Russian military bases with F-16 jets
Putin warned that if US made F-16 jets strike Russia Ukraine may no longer be the only target
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World War III looms as NATO gives Ukraine the go-ahead to strike Russian military bases with F-16 jets
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Ukraine has a right to use its Western-supplied weapons to defend itself against Russia, even if that includes striking targets within Russia’s borders.
“This is Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine, which is a blatant violation of international law,” Stoltenberg told Radio Liberty during an interview on Tuesday.
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And according to international law, Ukraine has the right to self-defense. And it also includes strikes against legitimate military targets, Russian military targets outside of Ukraine. That’s international law, and of course, Ukraine has the right to do that to defend itself.”
A NATO official confirmed with Financial Times on Thursday that Stoltenberg meant that Kyiv’s right to self-defense included striking Russian military targets outside of Ukraine.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly warned against Ukraine using its Western-supplied equipment to launch attacks on Russian territory, saying that doing so could risk escalating the conflict. The warnings had originally made allies like the United States hold off on supplying Kyiv with long-range weapons capable of reaching Russia, but NATO allies have since given Ukraine such arms
Reminder: Putin warned that if US made F-16 jets strike Russia Ukraine may no longer be the only target
Russia’s deputy foreign minister has warned Western countries of “enormous risks” if Ukraine is provided with F-16 fighter jets, Russian state media TASS reported Saturday.
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The comments come after US President Joe Biden gave his backing for Ukrainian pilots to be trained to fly F-16s, reversing his previous position.
F-16s are considered high performance weapon systems with a range of 500 miles (860 kilometers), and would be an upgrade to the aircraft currently in Ukraine’s fleet.
Responding to the move, Alexander Grushko said: “We see that the Western countries are still adhering to the escalation scenario.
“It involves enormous risks for themselves. In any case, this will be taken into account in all our plans, and we have all the necessary means to achieve the set goals.”
Earlier this week, the UK and the Netherlands were reportedly building an “international coalition” to help Ukraine procure F-16 fighter jets.
A handful of European countries have a supply of US-made F-16s, including the Netherlands, which has signaled a willingness to export some of them to Ukraine. But the US would have to approve that third-party transfer because of the jets’ sensitive US technology.
Since Russia’s invasion started, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, has struggled to get F-16s to aid his fight, over fears they could be used on Russian soil, potentially triggering an escalation between NATO and Russia.
After saying Kyiv did not need the fighter jets earlier this year, US President Joe Biden reversed his objections by signaling to European allies that they would allow F-16 exports to Ukraine.
Biden’s top national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told reporters Saturday in Japan Biden believes in equipping the country for a long-term fight against Russia.
In March, the US hosted two Ukrainian pilots at a military base in Tucson, Arizona, to evaluate their skills using flight simulators and assess how long it would take them to learn to fly various US military aircraft, including F-16s.
