Russians safe:

NATO prepares for conflict with Moscow

Outwardly, Putin appears unimpressed by the arms deliveries for Ukraine - and there are no plans to escalate the conflict.

(Bild: AP/Sputnik/Kremlin Pool/Mikhail Metzel)

After concerns about the conflict in Ukraine escalating into a global crisis have recently increased again, Russia is once again adding fuel to the fire. NATO is preparing for a conflict with Moscow, the Kremlin is certain. At the same time, President Vladimir Putin is trying to play down his own role.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, NATO is preparing its allies for a conflict with Russia. The RIA news agency quotes the ministry as saying that NATO's actions entail additional risks for Russia's security. The reason for the statement is NATO's activities in Eastern Europe and the Black Sea region.

Russians "not planning an attack"
This means that concerns about a "major war", as former EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker recently put it, are still simmering. However, Russia does not believe that it is really to blame for a possible escalation. As President Putin explained on Thursday, they are not planning an attack on a NATO country.

"We have no aggressive views," said Putin.

(Bild: AP/Sputnik/Kremlin Pool/Sergei Karpukhin)

Russia has no plans to attack a country in the transatlantic military alliance, nor Poland, the Baltic states or the Czech Republic. "We have no aggressive intentions towards these states," he said during a visit to a Russian Air Force base in the north-western city of Torschok.

Putin: "The Czechs are also afraid"
"The idea that we are going to attack any other country - Poland, the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, note) and the Czechs are also afraid - is complete nonsense," Putin continued, according to the official transcript of his speech to air force pilots published on Thursday. At the same time, he pointed out that the US-led transatlantic military alliance had expanded eastwards towards Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

F-16 deliveries leave Putin cold
At the same time, Putin declared F-16 fighter jets supplied by the West to Ukraine to be legitimate targets of attack. The delivery of F-16s and the training of Ukrainian pilots by Western countries would not change the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine, Putin said. Russia would destroy the planes, just as tanks, rocket launchers and other equipment supplied by the West had already been destroyed.

Even if they were deployed from airfields in third countries, they would "naturally become legitimate targets for Russia, regardless of where they are located", said Putin. According to the speech text, he pointed out that these F-16s could also carry nuclear weapons.

Ukraine: Fighter jets likely to be operational in the coming months
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba recently stated that the F-16 fighter jets should arrive in Ukraine in the coming months. Ukraine has been seeking F-16 jets for months in its defensive fight against the Russian invasion forces.

Belgium, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands are among the countries that have pledged to supply them. A coalition of countries has also agreed to train Ukrainian pilots in the use of F-16s.