'Enormous risks': Russia cautions Western countries of trouble if Ukraine is aided with F-16 jets

Russian state news outlet TASS announced Saturday Russia is warning Western countries "of enormous risks" if Ukraine is supported with F-16 fighter jets in the near future, CNN reports.

The warning comes, according to CNN, after President Joe Biden recently offered to support "Ukrainian pilots to be trained to fly F-16s, reversing his previous position."

Furthermore, Jake Sullivan, a top national security advisor to Biden said Saturday "in Japan Biden believes in equipping the country for a long-term fight against Russia."

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CNN reports:

In March, the US hosted two Ukrainian pilots at a military base in Tucson, Arizona, to evaluate their skills using flight simulators and assess how long it would take them to learn to fly various US military aircraft, including F-16s.

Additionally, CNN notes, "Since Russia's invasion started, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, has struggled to get F-16s to aid his fight, over fears they could be used on Russian soil, potentially triggering an escalation between NATO and Russia."

Regarding the potential change, Russian official Alexander Grushko said, "We see that the Western countries are still adhering to the escalation scenario," adding, "It involves enormous risks for themselves. In any case, this will be taken into account in all our plans, and we have all the necessary means to achieve the set goals."

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CNN's full report is available at this link.