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Military operation in Ukraine

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Russia to take into account West’s plans to send F-16 aircraft to Kiev — senior diplomat

Alexander Grushko added that Western countries continue down the path of escalation

© Sergei Karpukhin/TASS

MOSCOW, May 20. /TASS/. Western countries continue down the path of escalation and Moscow will take their plans to send F-16 aircraft to Ukraine into account, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told TASS on Saturday.

"We can see that Western countries continue to stick to an escalation scenario, which carries enormous risks for them. In any case, we will take it into account when making plans. We have all the necessary means to achieve our goals," he said on the sidelines of the 31st Assembly of the Council for Foreign and Defense Policy, when asked to comment on the possible supplies of F-16 aircraft to Ukraine.

NBC News reported on Friday that the US and its allies intended to send F-16 jets to Ukraine. The planes may be supplied by Washington’s allies, the news outlet said. US President Joe Biden said at a G7 summit in Hiroshima that Washington would support international efforts to train Ukrainian pilots to use F-16 jets.

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