"The F-16s destined for Ukraine can carry nuclear weapons"

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that F-16s destined for Ukraine could contain nuclear weapons, an issue Moscow could not lose sight of.Moscow has previously warned against sending advanced US warplanes to the former Soviet republic by Western countries, arguing that the move raises the question of direct military involvement by NATO-led states. United in the war between Russia and Ukraine.

It was then that a number of American allies had already volunteered to host the training of Ukrainian pilots in the handling of F-16s. We can cite in this respect France or Poland, which is one of the biggest supporters of Ukraine.

Today, Tuesday, Lavrov said that when the West decides to supply F-16 jets to Kiev, Moscow must bear in mind that these fighter jets are also capable of carrying nuclear weapons.

Lavrov, who was speaking at a military base in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, added that the West had first equipped Kiev with long-range weapons and tanks and was now preparing to send F-16 jets to Ukraine.

“Everything can be expected from the leaders of the United States and other Western countries (which Washington has completely subjugated). They are already proving this when, after advanced long-range weapons and tanks, they are now seriously preparing F-16s [for Kyiv],” he stressed.

“Some say two squadrons will be transferred, others say there will be eight. They are preparing to continue to escalate the war that has been unleashed against us,” he added.Lavrov described Russia as a “peaceful” nation that “only wants to be left alone so that no one tries to drag us into US-led globalist organizations and mechanisms.”

Earlier in May, Britain announced at a summit of European leaders in Reykjavik, Iceland, that it was working with the Netherlands to build a so-called international 'jet coalition' to help the Ukraine to obtain F-16 fighter jets from its mainly Western allies.

Initially, US President Joe Biden said his country would not supply the jets to Ukraine. Last month, however, he told G7 leaders in Japan that Washington was ready to help train Ukrainian pilots in the use of F-16 fighter jets.Ukraine, which largely operates aging Soviet-era fighter jets, has placed the American-made F-16 at the top of its wish list.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has long lobbied the West for single-engine multirole fighter jets, arguing that "their appearance in Ukraine with Ukrainian pilots would be a sure signal to the world that Russia's military operation in his country is will end in defeat.

Western countries want Russia to be “part of this global majority that the Americans, the Anglo-Saxons and their allies simply exploited, as they did in colonial times. To put it simply, they want to live at someone else's expense,” Lavrov added in his remarks.

Since the start of the war in February last year, the United States and its European allies have unleashed an unprecedented series of sanctions against Russia and dumped numerous batches of advanced weapons into Ukraine to help its army repel Russian troops, despite repeated warnings from the Kremlin that such measures will only prolong the war.