Any deployment of U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine will be seen as a direct nuclear threat to Moscow because of their ability to carry atomic weapons, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday.
In an interview with the Russian online newspaper Lenta.ru, Mr. Lavrov said the U.S. and its NATO allies are risking a direct armed clash with the Kremlin over the decision to equip Ukraine with F-16s.
“We have informed the nuclear powers, the United States, Britain and France, that Russia cannot ignore the ability of these aircraft to carry nuclear weapons. No amount of assurances will help here,” Mr. Lavrov said.
Russian soldiers in Ukraine will not waste time sorting out whether any particular aircraft is equipped to deliver nuclear weapons, Mr. Lavrov said.
“We will regard the very fact that the Ukrainian armed forces have such systems as a threat from the West in the nuclear sphere,” he said.
An international coalition to train Ukrainian pilots on the advanced F-16 was announced at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, this week. However, Kyiv has yet to receive any of the fourth-generation fighters from its allies.
Acquiring modern fighter jets has long been a priority for Kyiv.
The Biden administration said that teaching Ukrainians to fly and maintain F-16s would be difficult and time-consuming. But the White House relented amid intense lobbying from Ukraine and backers of the plan.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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