President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has warned that if F-16 fighter jets supplied to Ukraine by its Western allies were operated from airfields in other countries, the bases would be “legitimate targets” for attack.
In a speech to Russian air force pilots late on Wednesday, however, Mr Putin dismissed suggestions by some Western leaders that Russia is planning to invade NATO countries as “absolute nonsense”.
The threat that Russia might move against other countries has become one of the main arguments used by the Ukrainian government and its supporters to try to persuade the US to send more military aid to the country.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said again in an interview with CBS News published Thursday that war “may come to Europe and the United States of America.”
“It can come to Europe very quickly,” Mr Zelensky said.
At the United Nations on Thursday, Russia vetoed a resolution that would have extended UN oversight of sanctions linked to North Korea’s nuclear program, prompting accusations from Western nations that it was acting to keep the North Korean arms pipeline open. for use in Ukraine. .
Russia’s vote – a reversal from its previous support for the surveillance program – drew condemnation from world leaders. In the United States, White House national security spokesman John Kirby called it a “reckless action” that made clear the growing ties between Pyongyang and Moscow.
The vote came a day after Mr Putin visited the provincial town of Torzhok in the Tver region north of Moscow, where he inspected a training center for Russian military pilots.
Speaking to the pilots, Mr Putin said Russia spent only a fraction of what the United States does on its military. “Given this difference,” he said, concerns that Moscow will fight NATO are “nonsense.”
Mr Putin also reiterated his argument that NATO enlargement in the wake of the Soviet collapse was the primary reason for his decision to attack Ukraine in 2022.
“Have we crossed the ocean and approached the US border?” asked. “No, they’re the ones closing us in and they’ve reached our borders.”
But Mr Putin left the door open to an expanded battlefield when Ukraine’s allies decided to equip it with US-made F-16 fighter jets.
“F16 aircraft can also carry nuclear weapons and we should take this into account when organizing our military operations,” Mr Putin said.
At the United Nations on Thursday, Russia vetoed a resolution that would have extended UN oversight of sanctions linked to North Korea’s nuclear program, prompting accusations from Western nations that it was acting to keep the North Korean arms pipeline open. for use in Ukraine. .
Ukraine was also involved in the Kremlin’s response to the terror attack that killed at least 143 people last week at a concert hall outside Moscow.
Since shortly after the attack, Mr. Putin and other Russian officials, without evidence, have portrayed Ukraine as the possible mastermind behind it. Mr Putin eventually acknowledged that the attack had been “perpetrated by radical Islamists”, but stuck with the claim that Ukraine could have ordered it.
On Thursday, continuing in that vein, Russia’s investigative commission, the country’s equivalent of the FBI, said in a statement that it had “received evidence” that the attackers were “linked to Ukrainian nationalists,” without specifying what that evidence was. .
Investigators said they had “confirmed evidence that the perpetrators of the terrorist attack received significant amounts of money and cryptocurrencies from Ukraine, which were used to prepare the crime.” They also said another person was arrested in connection with the attack and will appear in court soon.
The Ukrainian government has denied any involvement in the attack. The United States and other Western governments have repeatedly said that Islamic State – which itself has twice claimed responsibility – was behind the attack and that Ukraine was not involved.
With 74 victims of the concert hall attack still in hospital, Mr Putin has yet to visit them or go to the site of the attack. Dmitry S. Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said Thursday that Mr. Putin had been heavily involved in the rescue effort on the night of the attack and that a visit to the attack site would hinder their work.
Emin Agalarov, an executive with the concert hall’s owner, the Crocus Group, on Thursday defended the way his staff handled the attack and its aftermath, including the fire in the hall, and the building’s compliance with fire safety requirements and security. Speaking on state television, Mr Agalarov said the fire and other emergency systems worked normally and allowed thousands of people to evacuate the building.
