Russia Will Treat F-16s in Ukraine as Nuclear-Capable Aircraft - Foreign Ministry

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia will treat F-16 multi-role fighter jets operated by Ukraine as nuclear-capable assets, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

"We cannot ignore the fact that these planes are dual-purpose platforms that can be used both for nuclear and non-nuclear tasks … No matter what modification of the aircraft will be supplied [to Ukraine] we will treat them as nuclear-capable and we will consider this step of the United States and NATO as a purposeful provocation," the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry further warned the regime in Kiev and its Western donors that their reckless behavior was driving the conflict in Ukraine to the point of no return.

"The regime in Kiev and its Western sponsors should realize that their reckless steps are bringing the situation closer to the point where it will attain ‘critical mass’ and explode," the ministry said.

The ministry also said that some NATO member states were purposefully dragging the alliance into a direct armed conflict with Russia.

The ministry pointed to French President Emmanuel Macron who had suggested at several occasions that French and other NATO forces should be deployed to Ukraine to fight against Russian troops.

"These and some other actions of NATO member states indicate that they are deliberately trying to turn the Ukrainian crisis into an open military clash between NATO countries and Russia in order to inflict a ‘strategic defeat’ on our country," it said.

In this regard, the ministry pointed out that upcoming military drills aimed at increasing the readiness of non-strategic nuclear forces should be perceived in the context of recent warlike statements made by Western officials and destabilizing actions of NATO.

"In connection with the upcoming Russian military exercises to practice the use of non-strategic nuclear weapons, we note that this event should be viewed in the context of recent warlike statements by Western officials and sharply destabilizing actions taken by a number of NATO countries aimed at increasing the pressure of force on Russia and creating additional threats to the security of our country in connection with the conflict in and around Ukraine," the ministry said.

Russia expects the upcoming drills to "cool down" some "hotheads" in Western capitals.

Earlier in the day, the ministry said that the General Staff of the Russian armed forces had started preparations for holding exercises in the near future with missile units of the Southern Military District, involving aviation, as well as naval forces, in order to increase the readiness of non-strategic nuclear forces to carry out combat missions. During the exercises, the Russian armed forces will practice a set of activities for the preparation and use of non-strategic nuclear weapons, the ministry said.

Furthermore, Russia has decided to step up development and launch production of intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles in response to US actions.

The ministry mentioned that the United States has started to "openly" follow the path of deployment of ground systems with intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles in various regions which were previously banned by the INF treaty (The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty).

"After that, the US immediately stepped up the development and testing of missile systems of the mentioned class [of missiles], and they also started forming specialized military units with a regional focus and working out the necessary infrastructure. Now the US has begun to bring the relevant missile systems to Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, allegedly for the period of exercises with allies, which indicates that the production and use in drills of these weapons is in full force," the ministry said.

The ministry added that Russia reserves the right to react accordingly to appearance of US-made intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles in any place "which would mean the termination of the unilateral Russian moratorium on the deployment of these weapons systems."

"In response to the US actions, Russia is stepping up development and starting production of similar missile systems. Moreover, taking into account the previously announced research and development, and the accumulated developments of the Russian military-industrial complex, this process will not take much time. When it comes to potential decisions on the deployment of such weapons, we leave the geography of their deployment to our discretion," the ministry said.