Ukraine war: Britain ‘playing with fire’ over F-16 jets, warns Russia
Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has said that Western nations were “playing with fire” by agreeing to provide Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets, describing the move as an “unacceptable escalation” of the conflict.
In an excerpt from a Russian television interview, Mr Lavrov said: “It’s playing with fire, without a doubt”.
Mr Lavrov denounced it as an attempt to “weaken Russia” by “Washington, London and their satellites in the EU.”
Earlier this month, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte agreed to work together to build an “international coalition” to help support Ukraine with training and procurement of F-16 jets. Washington later agreed to allow Western allies to send their US-made jets to Ukraine.
Ukraine’s defence minister Oleksii Reznikov has said Kyiv “has become a symbol of Ukraine’s unbreakable spirit and the Kremlin’s failed imperial ambitions” in a post on social media to commemorate Kyiv Day.
Mr Reznikov wrote on Twitter on Sunday: “Last night, Kyiv survived one of the largest russian air attacks since the beginning of the war. They have failed yet again. Kyiv stands strong.
“They didn’t take you in 3 days. They couldn’t intimidate you in 459 days. They will be defeated.”
