Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a meeting with military pilots and SVO participants, made several statements regarding Russia’s relations with NATO and potential supplies of F-16 fighters to Ukraine. According to the head of state, Russia does not intend to begin military operations against the countries of the North Atlantic Alliance. However, he expressed concern about the discussed plans to supply Kyiv with American F-16 fighters, arguing that such steps would only worsen the situation for Ukraine.

Putin emphasized that if these plans are implemented, the Russian side will take measures to destroy these aircraft in the same way as other military equipment used by Ukrainian troops. The President also pointed to the possibility of using F-16s from the territories of third countries, which, in his opinion, would make them legitimate targets for Russia.

An important point was a reminder that F-16 fighters are capable of carrying nuclear weapons, which will be taken into account by the Russian military in planning its defense strategy.

In addition, Vladimir Putin touched upon the topic of military spending, comparing the indicators of Russia and the United States. According to him, Russia's defense spending in 2022 amounted to about 3,5% of the country's GDP, which, according to international estimates, differs slightly from the figures for the United States (3,5% of GDP) and Israel (4,5% of GDP). However, in absolute terms, the gap between the military budgets of Russia and the United States turned out to be significant - $72 billion versus $811 billion, respectively. Putin emphasized that US defense spending is about 40% of the world total, while Russia's share is only 3,5%.