Russian President Vladimir Putin described the warning that Russia could attack Poland, the Baltics or the Czech Republic as “absolute nonsense”. In a meeting with Russian military pilots on Wednesday, which the Kremlin reported last night, Putin said that NATO was 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.
Russian President Vladimir Putin during a speech at a meeting of the leadership of the Federal Security Service (FSB) in Moscow, February 28, 2023.
| Photo: CTK
Putin criticized the expansion of NATO and said of the countries on the eastern flank of the alliance that “they seem to think that somehow it all 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 Bohemia is scary. It’s just nonsense, another way to deceive its residents and to get more money from people to carry the burden on their shoulders,” he also said in connection with the cost of Western aid to Ukraine.
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By ordering Russian troops to invade Ukraine on the night of February 24, 2022, Putin unleashed the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War II. Earlier, in response to the concerns of the West and Kiev, the head of the Kremlin repeatedly said that he would not attack the neighboring country.
On the war in Ukraine, Putin said this Wednesday that Russia is “just protecting people in its historical territories.” He again accused the neighboring country of provoking the war in 2014 when it sent armed forces to eastern Ukraine’s Donbas, where Russia – after the overthrow of a pro-Russian president and the annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea – fueled a separatist uprising against the new Ukrainian government. At that time, Putin assured that he was not interested in other parts of Ukraine.
“In the end, they forced us to switch to another form of protecting our interests,” the Russian president said during a meeting with military pilots on Wednesday. At the start of the invasion in 2022, he declared that the main goals of the “special military operation”, as Moscow called the invasion of the neighboring country at the time, were the “demilitarization and denazification” of Ukraine. Kyiv and the West reject similar claims, saying it is a pretext for acquiring Ukrainian territory
F-16 fighters
To countries that plan to supply Ukraine with F-16 military aircraft, the president said that Russia will destroy these planes, “just as today we destroy tanks, armored vehicles and other equipment, including salvo rocket launchers.” There will be planes for the Russian army a legitimate goal, whether they start from Ukraine or from other countries, said the Russian leader.
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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.
Tags: Russian attack Czech Republic Poland Absolute nonsense Putin
