2023-07-14 06:54:04
Once again, Russia puts a red mistake in front of the West, saying through its Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, that sending F-16 fighters to Ukraine is a red mistake, and bypassing it will lead to a direct collision.
Lavrov said in a press statement from Jakarta, Thursday, that the presence of “F-16” aircraft in Ukraine would constitute a “nuclear” threat to Moscow.
He added that the matter may lead to an armed clash.
And he considered that the Ukrainian army’s talk about not using these advanced weapons against Russian lands, guarantees that do not help.
Could the F-16s lead to an armed clash between the West and Russia, or is it just threats?
Russian political researcher, Yevgeny Siderov, told Sky News Arabia that supplying Ukraine with F-16 fighters would be one of the last red lines for Russia.
He added that the matter “could lead to a direct collision because these planes can carry nuclear warheads, and this poses a danger, even if the other party (Ukraine) does not know that these planes are capable of carrying weapons of mass destruction.”
He said that these fighters cannot take off and land from the Ukrainian runways, and are likely to take off from airports in Romania or Bulgaria, which are members of NATO.
Russia, according to Sedrov, considers the takeoff of planes from these two countries a direct danger to it, and it will be forced to move against it and shoot it down.
In this case, Article 5 of the NATO Charter will be binding, as any Russian attack would be tantamount to “aggression against the alliance in general,” and this is a very dangerous scenario that could lead to a direct military clash, according to the Russian political researcher.
Russia’s threats are worthless
On the other hand, Blaise Mistal, an expert in US foreign policy and national security, believes that Russia’s threats have lost their value.
Mistal added to “Sky News Arabia” that Russia has set many red lines with every new weapon that the West sends to Ukraine.
He continued, “At the beginning of the year, Russia set a red line if the West delivered the tanks to Ukraine, then the West delivered the tanks to Ukraine, and we did not see a reaction from the Russians.”
And he added, “There is no credibility for the Russians when they put these red lines, as it seems clear that they have no desire or ability to do anything.”
He said that Ukraine does not have nuclear weapons to put on F-16 fighters, but agreed to give up its nuclear weapons in 1994, in return for security guarantees from Russia and America that it would not be invaded, but Russia broke those guarantees.
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