Russia reacts to information on deliveries of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine

Western countries will "take a great risk" if they decide to supply Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Grushko has said, TASS has reported.

At the same time, he called the allies' support for Ukraine an escalation of the conflict and noted that such actions would have "consequences".

According to him, Russia will take into account the probable transfer of F-16 fighter jets "in all its plans".

We have all the necessary means to achieve our goals," said the Russian deputy foreign minister.

It is worth noting that CNN quoted a senior official in the US presidential administration as saying that US President Joe Biden had informed G7 leaders that Washington supports joint efforts with allies and partners to train Ukrainian pilots on fourth-generation aircraft, including F-16s. And this will begin "in the coming weeks".

The day before, advisor to the head of the presidential office Mykhaylo Podolyak said in an interview with Channel 24 that the decision to hand over the fighter jets to Ukraine "is practically taken".

Adviser to the Defence Ministry Yuriy Sak said in a commentary for the Washington Post that Ukraine hoped to receive multi-purpose F-16 fighters as early as the autumn of 2023.

We shall remind you that the partners have long ruled out the possibility of transferring the American F-16 fighters to Ukraine. Britain was the first country to agree to train Ukrainian pilots on the modern aircraft.

After that, a number of European countries, including the Netherlands, Denmark and Portugal, said they were ready to join the aviation coalition to transfer the F-16 fighters to Ukraine.

The US is known to have more than 1,000 F-16 fighters and about the same number have been sold to allies and partners around the world.

The US Air Force's fourth-generation multirole fighter has been in service since 1978. This system can be equipped with high-precision weapons and can strike ground targets at any time of day, regardless of weather conditions.