Ukraine-Russia war: latest news live | The head of Wagner’s mercenaries confirms that his departure from Bakhmut has been postponed until June 1 | international

Russia warns that it will reconsider NATO’s role in the war if the F-16s are delivered to Ukraine

Russia on Monday threatened to reconsider NATO’s role in the war in Ukraine if the F-16 fighter jets that Volodymyr Zelensky’s government claims from NATO member states are delivered to Kiev. Although it has not been confirmed that the Allies will deliver these fighters to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, many Western leaders have shown their willingness to study this possibility and train Ukrainian pilots to handle these aircraft. And the most recent, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, who last Friday supported these training programs. Zelensky assured Biden that the planes, if they were eventually delivered, would not be used to attack Russian territory.

“There is no infrastructure for operating F-16s in Ukraine, nor is there the necessary number of pilots and maintenance personnel,” Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said in remarks posted on the newspaper’s Telegram channel. Embassy. Antonov asked: “What will happen if American fighters take off from NATO airfields controlled by foreign” volunteers “?

The Russian ambassador to Washington also warned that any attack by Kiev forces on Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula that Moscow illegally annexed in 2014, would be considered an attack on Russia. “It is important for the United States to be fully aware of the response [a esos posibles ataques] which Russia will give, ”the diplomat threatened.

RIA news agency reported that Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, for his part, described any possible delivery of US aircraft to Ukraine as “absolutely stupid and useless”.

“These efforts are futile and meaningless: our capabilities make all targets of the special military operation targets [el eufemismo oficial ruso para denominar la guerra en Ucrania] Ryabkov boasted, according to the RIA news agency. (Reuters)