Putin takes place in simulator and threatens: ‘F-16s over Ukraine will be shot down’
In a conversation with Russian air force pilots, Putin said that “the US-led military alliance” – that is, NATO – has expanded eastwards towards Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, but that Moscow has no plans to to attack a NATO state. “We have no aggressive intentions towards these states,” Putin said, according to a transcript released by the Kremlin on Thursday. “The idea that we will attack another country – Poland, the Baltic states and the Czechs are also being frightened – is complete nonsense.”
The Kremlin says relations with Washington have probably never been worse. Asked about F-16 fighters that the West has promised to send to Ukraine, Putin said the planes will not change the situation in Ukraine. “If they supply F-16s, and apparently pilots are also being trained, this will not change the situation on the battlefield,” Putin said during the visit, which also included taking a seat in a helicopter simulator.
“And we will destroy the F-16s, just as we destroy tanks, armored vehicles and other equipment, including several rocket launchers,” Putin said at the air base. “If they are used from airports in third countries, they obviously become legitimate targets for us, wherever they may be,” Putin said. Putin’s comments followed remarks earlier in the day by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba that the F-16 should be deployed in Ukraine in the coming months.
