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Are Lavrov’s Concerns About Nuclear-Capable F-16s For Kiev Really ‘Baseless Fearmongering’?

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Are Lavrov's Concerns About Nuclear-Capable F-16s For Kiev Really 'Baseless Fearmongering'?

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Written by Drago Bosnic, independent geopolitical and military analyst.

Back in late May, the United States government “finally gave in to pressure” and decided to greenlight the delivery of F-16s to the Kiev regime. As a result, NATO’s European members were given the legal basis to deliver these old fighter jets to the Neo-Nazi junta. The troubled Biden administration has been mulling the move for months, while Ukrainian pilots have been conducting training in several NATO countries, including the US itself. Last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov issued a stark warning to the political West regarding the delivery of nuclear-capable US-made F-16 fighter jets to the Kiev regime.

“We can expect anything from the leaders of the United States and other Western countries whom Washington has brought to its heel. They are proving the truth of this statement now that following the supplies of modern long-range artillery and tanks, they are getting ready, in earnest, to supply the F-16 jets. Some say they will make two squadrons available, others say eight. They are gearing up to continue the escalation of the war against us,” Lavrov stated and then added a stark warning: “We must keep in mind that one version of the F-16 can carry nuclear weapons.”

The Russian Foreign Minister made these comments mere days after troops from NATO took part in incursions into Russia proper, accompanied by escalating drone strikes against targets as far as Moscow itself. However, the mainstream propaganda machine was quick to decry Lavrov’s warnings as supposed “disinformation” and “baseless fearmongering”. The Business Insider claims, citing Hans Kristensen, the director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, that “Lavrov’s comments were misinformation, perhaps even disinformation”.

“It’s misinformation because he’s saying things that are not real and using it in a way to, I assume, create public concern or fearmongering about Western intentions,” Kristensen told the Business Insider, adding that “Lavrov is using the nominal capability of the F-16 aircraft to say that the ones that might be sent to Ukraine could also be converted to nuclear, but that’s not the case. The F-16s that Ukraine is going to get — if and when it gets them — they’re not from the units that have the nuclear mission. There’s no way at all that any nuclear state in the West would give nuclear weapons, or nuclear weapons capability, to Ukraine. It’s completely out of the question.”

The F-16 is designed to be capable of launching nuclear strikes, usually with B61 thermonuclear bombs. The units deployed by NATO members such as Belgium and the Netherlands operate F-16 fighter jets capable of delivering nuclear weapons, specifically as part of their nuclear sharing agreements with the US. And it’s precisely these countries (in addition to Denmark and others) that still operate F-16s and could very well be the first to send them to the Kiev regime. On the other hand, members such as Poland and Romania are extremely unlikely to do so, as the move would undermine their own security. This further reinforces the idea that the jets destined for the Neo-Nazi junta will be capable of delivering nuclear weapons.

This alone makes Lavrov’s concerns all the more factual, rather than “disinformation” and “baseless fearmongering”. Russia has repeatedly warned that the Kiev regime could attempt to acquire nuclear weapons, or at the very least a so-called “dirty bomb”. Such plans were publicly announced by the Neo-Nazi junta’s top officials themselves, including its frontman Volodymyr Zelensky, which is another proof that Moscow’s warnings are not to be dismissed. In addition, Russian intelligence services have found crucial evidence pointing out that the US has been conducting experiments and deploying “sensitive nuclear technologies” in former Ukrainian nuclear power plants (NPPs), such as the Zaporozhye NPP, possibly to even attempt a nuclear false flag operation.

Although the US is by far the largest operator of F-16 fighter jets, it still hasn’t announced plans to deliver them to the Neo-Nazi junta forces. Washington DC’s propaganda machine insists that this is supposedly because “the US is reluctant to do so to avoid escalation with Moscow”. However, this is a moot point, as the belligerent thalassocracy has so far done everything in its power to antagonize Russia through a series of moves that have pushed the world dangerously close to a world-ending thermonuclear conflict. Still, this doesn’t seem to stop the US from going ahead with such plans, at the very least covertly. National Security Council coordinator John Kirby recently admitted this, stating that “the US has been forward-looking about future capabilities and needs”.

According to CNN, back in March, the US hosted two Ukrainian pilots at a military base in Tucson, Arizona, where USAF has been evaluating their skills to assess how much time they would need to learn to fly various American military aircraft, including the F-16. Still, while Washington DC is directly taking part in these efforts, it’s obvious they want to make it look like they’re not, which would explain why the US doesn’t want to send its own jets, but expects its overseas vassals and satellite states to do so.

And while the F-16’s capabilities against Russian jets such as the Su-35S or MiG-31BM are questionable at best (to say nothing of the Su-57), it’s not impossible that Washington DC is trying to give the Kiev regime a nuclear capability to deter a potential Russian counteroffensive that might ensue as the Neo-Nazi junta’s own offensive is failing miserably.

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Andrea MCMLXIV

l” impero del male usa non ha ancora capito dopo ben 15 mesi di sconfitte militari ucraine che la fornitura di nuovi armamenti non cambierà le sorti della guerra persa per gli ucraini ! 15 mesi fa l” ucraina nazista poteva patteggiare con la russia una pace dove la russia vincitrice né usciva sostanzialmente sconfitta ! adesso l” ucraina è un cumulo di macerie e la russia rivuole indietro le tutte le sue terre e non accetterà mai una pace dove ci rimette !

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Andrea MCMLXIV

una massiccia fornitura usa-nato di ben 400 aerei militari ex sovietici o nuovi russi con relativi pezzi di ricambio al” ucraina nazista potrebbe creare qualche problema grosso alla russia ! fornire dei vecchi catorci di aerei f-16 usa o simili nato è inutile ! gli aerei usa-nato consegnati agli ucraini nazisti sono destinati a fare in breve tempo una brutta fine e a non ottenere nessun successo militare !

Andrea MCMLXIV

gli f-16 usa non cambieranno affatto le sorti della guerra persa per gli ucraini da ben 15 mesi ! gli f-16 come altre armi usa-nato fanno parte della pubblicità o stupida disinformazione della propaganda usa-nato anti-russia !

G.Washinton

the us now understands that ukraine can not win and will likely give ukraine tactical nukes hoping to contain the nuclear war to ukraine..this should be a great concern to everyone.

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Florian Geyer

lavrov has already mooted that if the yanks supply nuclear missiles to ukie land, the us will also feel the pain.

bidens controllers also need to feel the pain.

Vitamin Z

good point. russia should make clear that retaliation in such a case will be directed at the suppliers of the nukes

Clubofinfo

even if ukraine had a nuke, it is questionable what they could do with it or what the us would expect to happen. if ukraine used it on moscow, the russians would respond by hitting washington, dc. if ukraine used it on the battlefield, russia would use several more on the battlefield. the west and ukraine fail and all die in every conceivable resolution of this conflict other than them giving up

Gerry

apparently ‘nato’ has opted for using swedish jas 39 gripen jet fighters over the clumsier f-16 – can use more robust airstrips, (roads) easier to fly than f-16 and with comparable payloads… ukr pilots have been trained on them in various nato countries..

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Kbm

givin zelensky’s psychopathic behavior and the usand natostan, it’s no wonder he said it.

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bert33

russia has the capacity to return fire with authority so if mushrooms start sprouting in russia they will also sprout all across europe

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Lesco Brandon

they will burn just like everything else the west has sent

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Clubofinfo

russia providing syria with icbms that can hit washington, dc, and giving nuclear submarines to cuba is a perfectly valid way of protecting democracies around the world from a us invasion

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