Why Putin warned that NATO will be drawn into the Ukraine war

The possibility that the West supply F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine has caused the fury of Vladimir Putin. The Russian president warned that this could drag the NATO to get directly involved in the war in the European country.

“The NATOof course, is being dragged into the war in UkraineWhat are we talking about here?“, said putin Friday in the International Economic Forum from Saint Petersburg.

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“Supplies of heavy military weapons to Ukraine they are ongoing, now they are studying the possibility of giving Ukraine the jets”he added.

putin announced that the F-16 “will burn” in Ukraine if the West delivers them to kyiv.

“The tanks burn in Ukraine, several tanks have been destroyed, including Leopard… they burn. The F-16s will also burn, no doubt.”said putin.

If they are finally delivered to Ukrainefighter planes F-16 They will be the most sophisticated military material supplied to that country since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022.

An American-made F-16 fighter jet. (AFP).

According to the CNN news network, the F-16s are single-engine multirole jet aircraft, which means they can be used in air-to-air or ground-attack missions.

They began flying in the 1970s and are referred to by the US Air Force as a “relatively low-cost, high-performance weapons system.”

These ships are designed to fly at more than 2,400 kilometers per hour, or Mach 2.

The F-16 uses what is known as radiation detection to identify air defense systems.

CNN indicates that this is very important because the plane is capable of going to the areas where the air defenses of Russiasuch as the S-300 or S400 system. Although such systems also use dangerous weapons for F-16s.

The F-16 which would be delivered to Ukraine They are older versions that have been in the fleets of US allies, especially in Western Europe, reports CNN. Several of these countries have bought more modern aircraft from Washington and this would be an opportunity to get rid of their old fleets.

Ukraine has claimed it needs around 200 F-16 fighters.

“There is a surplus of F-16s in Western nations, offering ready availability and a well-established logistics route,” Robert Hopkins, a military aviation author and former US Air Force pilot, told CNN.

A Russian Yars RS-24 ICBM system and other military vehicles move through Red Square during a military parade, on June 24, 2020. (ALEXANDER NEMENOV / AFP)

In it International Economic Forum from Saint Petersburg putin not only talked about NATO and the delivery of arms to Ukraine. The president also referred to the nuclear warheads that his country has.

He warned the West that Russia possesses a number of nuclear weapons that would “guarantee” its security and boasted that it possesses a greater number of warheads than NATO as a whole

“Nuclear weapons They are created to guarantee our safety in the broadest sense and the existence of the Russian state”Putin said.

However, he said that “no need” to use them and that “just talking reduces the chance that the threshold for using these weapons will be lowered.”

The allusion of putin to its nuclear weapons occurred while his country began the transfer of tactical warheads to belarus.

The same Friday, putin confirmed that the first tactical nuclear weapons have already arrived in that country, in a process that will end at the end of the year.

“The first nuclear charges have already reached belarus. Until the end of the summer, the end of the year, all this process will be over. But it’s a deterrent measure.” Putin stressed.

Russia’s tactical nuclear weapons. (AFP).

Last March, when Ukraine prepared his counteroffensive to recapture territory occupied by the Russians, putin announced an agreement with his Belarusian counterpart, Alexandr Lukashenko, to the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in the neighboring country.

Then, in April, Belarusian servicemen received training in Russia on the use of special tactical ammunition for missiles Iskander-Mcapable of using not only conventional weapons, but also nuclear ones, reported the EFE news agency.

Also in April, the training of the Belarusian forces was completed to operate Su-25 attack aircraft, which were equipped to carry tactical nuclear weapons.

Regarding the handling of weapons transferred to belarusthe Defense Minister of Russia, Sergei Shoigu, He stressed that his country will retain control over nuclear warheads and the decision on their eventual use.

“Russia does not transfer nuclear weapons to the Republic of Belarus: control over them and the decision to use them remains with the Russian side”, said in May.

At the end of April, the general secretary of the NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, reported that NATO allies and partners had already delivered more than 1,500 military vehicles and 230 tanks to Ukraine. But it is not the only thing.

This is a list of weapons delivered by the allies to Ukraine:

The UK’s long-range Storm Shadow missile. (AFP).

The HIMARS system delivered by the United States to Ukraine. (AFP).

America’s Abrams tank coming to Ukraine. (AFP).

Source: Elcomercio