By Ali Karbalaei
TEHRAN - Russia says NATO members are "playing with fire" in their pledge to supply Ukraine with F-16 warplanes.
NATO alleges that the fighter jets will help Ukraine’s counter-offensive to recapture territory from Russia.
Kyiv says the counter offensive will begin any moment now.
A Ukrainian official expressed hope the first F-16 will arrive by October.
An American official says the warplanes could arrive by the end of the year, which has raised eyebrows on how the jets will be used.
The mathematics don’t add up, but more importantly it’s another major signal by the U.S.-led NATO military alliance of wanting to drag out the war as long as possible.
After many months of lobbying for the warplanes, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has finally got his wish.
As NATO members continue to pour weapons into Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned that Western governments are “playing with fire”.
The warning came after the United States authorized its allies to supply Kyiv (only from their own stockpiles) with the U.S.-made F-16 warplanes.
Russia’s top diplomat has branded the move as “an unacceptable escalation” of the conflict.
During an interview with Russian media, Lavrov was asked on where the limit stands about the escalation of NATO’s arms shipments, to which he responded, "of course, this is an unacceptable escalation. I think there are still people in the West who understand this, but everything is dictated by Washington, London and their satellites who are in the European Union … It’s playing with fire, without a doubt”.
The issue of escalation is not a question of Ukraine receiving F-16 fighter jets as senior Russian officials have downplayed the logistical aspects of the transfer, while observers are questioning their effectiveness on the battlefield in the face of Russia's more powerful air force.
The matter has more to do with the Kremlin's argument that NATO is attempting to contain Russia by prolonging the war and suffering of Ukrainian people, while using Ukraine as a proxy, with increasingly sophisticated weapons being sent to Kyiv instead of focusing on peace.
Russia had already warned against sending the fighter jets, saying the move would bring to the spotlight the U.S.-led NATO forces' direct military involvement in the war. Senior Russian diplomats say transferring the warplanes will not undermine Moscow’s military objectives.
They also say the logistics of the F16’s in Ukrainian hands makes little sense.
"There is no infrastructure for the operation of the F-16 in Ukraine and the needed number of pilots and maintenance personnel is not there either," Russia's ambassador to the U.S., Anatoly Antonov, pointed out in remarks published on the embassy's social media platform.
Antonov has also echoed Lavrov’s remarks, accusing the U.S of subjecting other countries to its own foreign agenda at the recent G7 summit.
"Washington completely subordinated the G7 members to its own policy regarding the conflict in Ukraine," Antonov said, adding that the U.S. wants a "strategic defeat" for Russia.
"What will happen if the American fighters take off from NATO airfields, controlled by foreign 'volunteers'?"
Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has dismissed any transfer of the U.S. jets to Ukraine as "absolutely pointless and stupid".
"These efforts are completely useless and meaningless: our capabilities are such that all the goals of the special military operation will certainly be achieved", Ryabkov has been cited by Russian media as saying.
Analysts agree that the U.S., unlike its European allies, wants a strategic defeat for Russia. Washington is not seeking any diplomatic solution to the war.
Any transfer of the fighter jets will not alter the course of the battle and is more of a symbolic gesture, something that is offered to Ukraine during international summits, such as the G7 in Hiroshima last week. The delivery is intended to please the government in Kyiv to continue fighting.
The U.S.-led NATO military alliance says the F-16 warplanes will help Kyiv in its long-awaited counter offensive to recapture land from Russia in eastern and southern Ukraine.
The counter-offensive has been delayed and over the past several months it has been billed as a spring counter-offensive.
As summer approaches, Ukrainian officials say it could start in the following days or weeks, but Yuri Sak, an adviser to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, has said that Kyiv hopes to receive the first F-16’s by October which will be in the Autumn.
U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall admitted the delivery of F-16s to Ukraine will take “several months at best,”. He also said “several months” is relatively quick, since it usually takes over two years to train a new American pilot on such an aircraft.
Those remarks have raised more questions than answers as “several months at best,” has been labeled as vague and could mean by the end of the year.
Ukraine’s allies have yet to offer any public statements on which country will provide the jets, how many, and when.
Training on the U.S.-made jets will take place in Europe while other U.S. officials have estimated the speediest time needed for training and delivery of F-16s at 18 months.
In essence, the Pentagon is seeking to drag this war out as long as possible, with Ukraine being used as a proxy, and Europe paying the price.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with Russian media on Sunday that Western countries are waging their war against Russia in all domains.
The transfer of the U.S. warplanes had to come with a specific pledge from Kyiv.
Biden said he had received a "flat assurance" from President Zelensky that he would not use the F-16 fighter jets to attack Russian territory.
Western governments have been very careful in sending any arms shipments that could strike into Russian territory out of fear of getting involved in a war with Russia.
At the same time, they have become increasingly wary of leaving their own countries undefended by giving away too much military equipment to Ukraine.
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