Putin denied that he wanted to invade Poland or the Czech Republic. “They’re just taking more money out of people,” he said

President Vladimir Putin has described the claim that Russia can attack Poland, the Baltic states or the Czech Republic as “absolute nonsense”. He stated this on Wednesday during a meeting with Russian military pilots, which was reported by the Kremlin last night. “We have no aggressive intentions towards these states,” Putin said of the countries on the eastern flank of the North Atlantic Alliance.

Putin called the statements of Western politicians about Moscow’s possible plans to attack other countries nonsense. “This is just another way to deceive your population and extract more money from people so that they carry the burden on their shoulders,” the Kremlin chief said of the support given to Ukraine by NATO countries since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022.

In his speech, Putin also stated that the deployment of Western F-16 fighter jets on the Ukrainian side will not change the situation on the battlefield. However, these aircraft are capable of carrying nuclear weapons, to which Russia will adapt its strategy, Putin added, according to Reuters.

This year, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium and Norway have promised to supply Ukraine with over four dozen of these advanced aircraft, from which Kiev promises to control Ukrainian airspace. The first six machines should arrive in the spring from Denmark, the Netherlands is talking about deliveries during the summer.

“We will destroy the plane, just as today we destroy tanks, armored vehicles and other equipment, including salvo rocket launchers,” TASS quoted Putin as saying. The planes will be a legitimate target for the Russian army, whether they take off from Ukraine or other countries, the Russian leader said.

Ukraine, which has been facing a Russian invasion for more than two years, has long been asking the West for the supply of aircraft. According to Reuters, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Wednesday that Kyiv expects the first machines in the coming months. However, according to some media, the ongoing training of Ukrainian pilots to use these machines is behind schedule due to, for example, poor knowledge of English.