The appearance of F-16 fighters capable of carrying nuclear weapons in Kiev will be considered by Russia as a threat from the West in the nuclear field, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with Lenta.ru . “

“We have repeatedly spoken out on this topic. I would even say that it has exhausted itself if the West did not take actions that again and again force us to point out the risks of a strategic nature that are generated by an aggressive anti-Russian policy,” the minister said.

He recalled that the conditions for the use of nuclear weapons by Russia are clearly defined in the military doctrine.

At the same time, the United States and its NATO satellites create the risk of a direct armed clash with Russia, which is fraught with catastrophic consequences, the minister continued. “Just one example of an extremely dangerous development is the US plans to transfer F-16 fighter jets to the Kiev regime. We have informed the US nuclear powers, Britain and France that Russia cannot ignore the ability of these aircraft to carry nuclear weapons,” Lavrov said, adding that “no assurances will help here.”

The minister explained that in the course of hostilities, the Russian military would not sort out “whether each specific aircraft of the specified type is equipped for the delivery of nuclear weapons or not.”

“The very fact of the appearance of such systems in the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be considered by us as a threat from the West in the nuclear sphere,” he concluded.

Earlier, the head of the office of Vladimir Zelensky, Andriy Yermak, in an interview with Ukrainian journalists, said that Ukraine hopes to receive the first F-16 fighters from Western partners by the end of 2023. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg did not name the timing of the delivery of the F-16 to Ukraine, according to him, this will depend on the training of pilots and the assessment of the situation by the allies.

Originally published at Ria. Translated by Google Translate.