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F-16 supplies to Ukraine to heighten risk of direct Russia-NATO conflict — diplomat

According to Alexander Shulgin, Ukraine has virtually no suitable airstrips for this class of fighter jets, leaving no other option than taking off from airstrips in NATO countries

MOSCOW, July 19. /TASS/. Supplies by the Netherlands of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine will increase the risk of a direct armed clash between Russia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Alexander Shulgin, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and Ambassador to the Netherlands, said during an online briefing on Wednesday.

According to Shulgin, Ukraine has virtually no suitable airstrips for this class of fighter jets, leaving no other option than taking off from airstrips in NATO countries.

"In case things go sideways, the risk of direct confrontation will increase," Shulgin said. "This should be understood by everyone, including in The Hague."

At the NATO summit in Vilnius, Romanian Defense Minister Angel Tylvar signed a joint statement on establishing a coalition to train Ukrainian air force pilots to fly F-16 jets, joining Belgium, the UK, Canada, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal and Sweden

It was reported earlier that Ukrainian pilots are to start training on F-16 jets in Denmark in August, and that a regional training center will be set up in Romania.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the United States and its NATO satellites are creating risks of a direct armed clash with Russia, and this is fraught "with catastrophic consequences." The minister emphasized that the delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine would be considered by Moscow as a nuclear threat from the West.

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