Russia's Defense Ministry warned Ukraine that its new fleet of U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets is considered a "nuclear-capable" threat and that it will "consider this step of the United States and NATO as a purposeful provocation."
"We cannot ignore the fact that these planes are dual-purpose platforms that can be used both for nuclear and non-nuclear tasks," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Monday, reported Newsweek. "No matter what modification of the aircraft will be supplied [to Ukraine] we will treat them as nuclear-capable."
The warning comes as the Foreign Ministry also informed Nigel Casey, the British ambassador to Russia, that if Ukraine uses British weapons in attacks on Russian territory, Moscow could respond with hits on British military facilities and equipment in Ukraine and elsewhere, the publication reported.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said last week that Ukraine should be free to hit Russian targets with the weapons it receives from the U.K.
Moscow called on Casey to consider "the inevitable catastrophic consequences of such hostile steps from London" and to disavow Cameron's statement.
Cameron's comments, the ministry said, "directly contradicts the previously sounded assurances of the British side when transferring long-range cruise missiles" to Kyiv and that "under no circumstances would they be used on Russian territory."
Meanwhile, the F-16 fighter jets are being provided to Ukraine by several Western allies, including Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, and Belgium, not the United States or NATO. According to Ukraine Air Force spokesperson Ilya Yevlash, the planes were to be ready for use in battle after Orthodox Easter, which was observed Sunday.
The F-16s can accommodate nuclear weapons, with modifications, Ukraine does not possess a nuclear arsenal, and none of the allies who possess the weapons have given signs of sharing them.
The jets are replacing outdated Soviet-made fighter jets the Ukrainian military had been using.
Russia further warned that "the regime in Kyiv and its Western sponsors should realize that their reckless steps are bringing the situation closer to the point where it will attain 'critical mass' and explode."
In addition, Moscow is arguing that the West is "deliberately trying to turn the Ukrainian crisis into an open military clash between NATO countries and Russia," after French President Emmanuel Macron suggested that NATO intervene in the war, reported Russian-state news agency Sputnik.
However, President Joe Biden said in his State of the Union address that he is "determined" to keep American troops out of Ukraine, and almost all other NATO allies have rejected sending troops into Ukraine, which is not a NATO ally.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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