Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that there is a “serious danger” of NATO being drawn deeper into the Ukraine conflict if members of the alliance continue to deliver military equipment to Kyiv.
The remark looked to be a reference to the F-16 fighter jets that some NATO allies are planning to supply Ukraine with.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was founded in the aftermath of World War II to defend Western nations against the Soviet Union, and the alliance includes a mutual defence clause that states that an assault on any member is considered an attack on all.
Despite the fact that Ukraine is not a member of NATO, certain NATO states have been supplying Kyiv with tanks, armoured vehicles, and other hardware, prompting Russia to threaten retaliation.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg stated in late April that NATO allies and partners have delivered more than 1,500 vehicles and 230 tanks to the country.
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“NATO, of course, is being drawn into the war in Ukraine, what are we talking here,” Putin said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday, June 16.
“The supplies of heavy military weaponry to Ukraine are ongoing, they are now looking into giving Ukraine the jets.”
Putin said during his speech in St. Petersburg that Russia has destroyed tanks “including Leopards” on the front lines.
“And if they are based abroad, but used in fighting we’ll see how to hit them, and where we can hit those means that are used against us in fighting,” Putin said.
“This is a serious danger of further drawing NATO into this military conflict,” he added.
During his remarks at the summit, Putin also suggested that Russia’s high number of nuclear weapons would “guarantee” its security because Russia possessed more of them than NATO members.
According to the Arms Control Association, Russia has a total stockpile of roughly 6,250 nuclear warheads as of January 2021. The United States has around 5,500 nuclear warheads, whereas the United Kingdom and France have approximately 220 and 290 nuclear warheads, respectively.
“Nuclear weapons are created to guarantee our security in the broader sense and the existence of the Russian state,” Putin said.
“But first of all, there is no need and secondly the very fact of talking about it reduces the possibility of the threshold for using these weapons being reduced.”
“Also, we have more weapons like this than the NATO countries. They know it and they keep driving towards negotiation on reduction.”
