Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the recent escalation over arms supplies to Kiev is unacceptable, and many people in the West comprehend this fact.
"Of course, this is an unacceptable escalation. I think there are still people in the West who understand this, but everything is dictated by Washington, London and their satellites who are in the European Union," Lavrov said in an interview, commenting on where the limit of escalation lies given the continuing arms deliveries to Kiev.
Earlier, the US-led military bloc pledged to supply Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets, the latest addition to the list of lethal weapons the West has provided to Ukraine as it gears up for a large-scale offensive against Russian forces. Yuri Sak, an adviser to the Ukrainian Minister of Defense, said that Kiev hopes to receive the first F-16s from foreign donors in late September or early October.
During the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, US President Joe Biden told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that Washington, along with its partners, was going to launch a program to train Ukraine’s military pilots to operate fourth-generation fighter aircraft, including F-16s.
Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said the potential transfer of F-16 jets to Ukraine raises the question of NATO’s involvement in the conflict.
Moscow had earlier sent a note to NATO countries over arms supplies to the Kiev regime. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted that any cargo containing weapons for Ukraine would be a legitimate target for Russia. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that NATO countries were "playing with fire" by supplying weapons to Ukraine.
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that flooding Ukraine with weapons from the West would not contribute to the success of Russian-Ukrainian talks and would have a negative effect. Lavrov said the US and NATO were directly involved in the conflict in Ukraine "not only by supplying weapons, but also by training personnel... on the territory of [Great] Britain, Germany, Italy and other countries".