That Russia could invade Poland, the Czech Republic or the Baltics? Total nonsense, Putin said

President Vladimir Putin described the claim that Russia could 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 on Friday night.

Putin said that NATO is trying to intimidate the population in order to maintain their support for further aid to Ukraine, against which Russia has been waging war for more than two years. At the same time, the head of the Kremlin pointed out that if the West supplies the Ukrainians with F-16 fighter jets, the Russian army will shoot them down.

Putin criticized the expansion of NATO and said of the countries on the eastern flank of the alliance that “they seem to believe that all this somehow corresponds to their national interests, they are afraid of a big Russia”.

“We have no aggressive intentions towards these states,” Putin said. “So this is complete nonsense, the possibility of an attack on some other countries, on Poland, the Baltics, even the Czech Republic. Just nonsense, another way to deceive its inhabitants and to get more money from people to carry the burden on their shoulders,” he said also in connection with the cost of aid to Ukraine from the West.

Regarding the war in Ukraine, Putin said that Russia “is only protecting people in its historical territories”.

We will destroy the F-16 fighters

The president told countries that plan to supply Ukraine with F-16 military aircraft that Russia will destroy these planes, “just as today we destroy tanks, armored vehicles and other equipment, including salvo rocket launchers.” The planes will be a legitimate target for the Russian army, whether they take off from Ukraine or from other countries, the Russian leader said.

This year, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium and Norway have promised to supply Ukraine with over four dozen F-16 aircraft, from which Kyiv promises to ensure control of Ukrainian airspace. The first six machines are due to arrive in the spring from Denmark, with the Netherlands talking about deliveries during the summer.

Ukraine has long been asking the West to provide 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 necessary training of Ukrainian pilots is still behind schedule due to, for example, poor knowledge of English.