Russia’s ambassador in Copenhagen on Monday condemned Denmark’s decision to supply Ukraine with US F-16 fighter jets, saying it leads to an “escalation of the conflict.”
“The fact that Denmark has decided to donate 19 F-16 aircraft to Ukraine is causing an escalation of the conflict,” said Vladimir Barbine, quoted in a statement sent to the French agency AFP.
The planes promised by Denmark will be delivered to kyiv gradually: six by the end of the year, eight in 2024 and five in 2025, according to Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also announced that the Netherlands would supply 42 F-16 fighters to kyiv, although Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte was reluctant to give an exact number.
“Hiding behind the idea that Ukraine should determine for itself the conditions for peace, Denmark seeks, through its actions and words, to leave Ukraine with no alternative but military confrontation with Ukraine. Russia,” the minister said. diplomatic.
“This decision pushes Ukraine into the abyss and condemns its people to new victims,” Vladimir Barbane added.
Danish Defense Minister Jakob Ellemann-Jensen rejected Moscow’s criticism and reaffirmed that the weapons delivered to kyiv could only be used on Ukrainian soil.
“Weapons are handed over on the condition that they are used to expel the enemy from the territory of Ukraine. Nothing more than that,” Ellemann-Jensen told local media.
“These are the conditions, whether they are tanks, combat planes or anything else. That is the message that Ukraine will receive,” he added, according to the Spanish news agency Europa Press.
The F-16 supply announcement coincided with a visit by Zelensky to Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark.
On Sunday, Zelensky traveled to the Netherlands and Denmark to examine the planes he has been asking for since the start of the Russian invasion, launched on February 24, 2022.
On Friday, the United States approved the deployment of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine after training the Ukrainian pilots.
In July, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned against handing over the F-16s, saying Moscow would consider them a nuclear threat.
Ukraine launched a counteroffensive in June to try to recapture Russian-conquered territory, but has admitted that troops are advancing slowly and with modest results.
Denmark and the Netherlands are members of the European Union and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).
Source: TSF
