Denmark says Ukraine could use F-16s against targets in Russia

Denmark's foreign minister said Ukraine will be allowed to attack targets inside Russia with F-16 fighter jets it is sending as part of its military support to Kyiv.

“The short answer is yes,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told the Brussels news site European Truth when asked whether Ukrainian pilots would be allowed to strike targets inside Russia using US-made warplanes.

“We made it clear from the very beginning… that this is part of self-defense, so that military installations on the aggressor’s territory can also be attacked,” Rasmussen added.

However, he clarified that “this is not carte blanche for Ukraine to use F-16s to carry out indiscriminate attacks on Russia,” Danish daily Kristeligt Dagblad reported.

“We are talking about the possibility of weakening the aggressor by destroying military installations on Russian territory,” Rasmussen told reporters.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Monday called on Washington and its allies to lift restrictions on Ukraine's use of Western-supplied weapons, despite concerns that Putin could use nuclear weapons in retaliation.

In addition to Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Belgium have pledged to send F-16s to Ukraine.

Reuters cited an anonymous senior Ukrainian military source as saying earlier this month that the first F-16s would arrive sometime between June and July.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last year that deliveries of F-16s to Ukraine would be interpreted as a "nuclear" threat to Moscow due to the aircraft's ability to carry nuclear weapons.