Kremlin: US Planes Will Be Downed if They Fly over Russian Territory

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov (Reuters)
Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov (Reuters)
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Kremlin: US Planes Will Be Downed if They Fly over Russian Territory

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov (Reuters)
Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov (Reuters)

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov took advantage of his presence on Wednesday at the World Youth Festival held in Sochi to send messages to the US and European countries through their delegations attending the conference.
In his speech, the presidential spokesperson spoke about several disputing files between Russia and the West, addressing US and EU delegations with phrases such as “We love you, we do not want war.”
He then blamed the policies of the ruling elites in Western countries for the deteriorating relations with Russia and for bringing the two sides to the brink of direct confrontation.
The spokesman then lengthily spoke about the file of US-Russian relations. “America is fighting against us. US tanks are moving through Russian territory. That's not good. They drive up to a point, and then they burn,” he said, hinting at the American-made tanks delivered to Ukraine and which Moscow says had crossed Russian territory.
He added that if American planes fly over Russian territory, the military will make them burn and fall.
“If American planes fly over our territory, I have no doubt that our valiant military will also make these planes burn and fall,” Peskov said.
On the Russian elections that will take place between March 15 and 17, the spokesman said any attempt from abroad to interfere in the presidential election later this month would be prevented.
“We do not dictate to anyone how to live - but we don't want others to dictate to us,” Peskov said.
Addressing the young US delegation at the Festival, Peskov said: “Russia will not interfere in the 2024 US elections. We never dictate how someone should live.”
Despite his strong tone, Peskov spoke about Moscow's readiness to dialogue with the West about accumulated controversial files.
He said Russia did not see Americans as enemies and said that the world's two biggest nuclear powers had special responsibility to ensure global strategic security.
Asked about the threat of nuclear war, Dmitry Peskov emphasized that Russian nuclear weapons can be used only in specific cases.
“Nuclear war is a last resort, a farewell remedy. Therefore, all the arguments about nuclear war, of which there are now a lot in the West – both in European capitals and in the United States – are extremely irresponsible and extremely dangerous because this topic is being routine. It is very dangerous,” he stressed.
Commenting on a leaked conversation between German military officers discussing a potential attack on the Crimean Bridge, Peskov said Moscow does not want war with Germany but it will tolerate plans to blow things up in Russia.
“We don’t want war. We don’t want to blow anything up and we don’t want anyone to plan to blow things up here. We will not turn a blind eye to that,” he said.
In a related development, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing on the sidelines of the World Youth Festival that if US nuclear weapons were deployed to Northern Europe, the security of the countries hosting these weapons will by no means get stronger, but on the contrary be harmed.
She said the facilities in Northern Europe hosting US nuclear weapons will be included in the list of legitimate military targets under a scenario of a direct military clash between Russia and NATO.

“One does not have to be a military strategist to realize that such facilities will represent a source of direct threat and, naturally, will inevitably be included in the list of legitimate targets under a scenario of a direct military clash between our country and NATO,” Zakharova said.

 

 



Foreign Ministers Meet in Italy for G7 Talks on Ukraine, Middle East

Security stand guard ahead of the G7 Foreign Ministers meeting in Anagni, Lazio Region, Italy, 24 November 2024. (EPA)
Security stand guard ahead of the G7 Foreign Ministers meeting in Anagni, Lazio Region, Italy, 24 November 2024. (EPA)
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Foreign Ministers Meet in Italy for G7 Talks on Ukraine, Middle East

Security stand guard ahead of the G7 Foreign Ministers meeting in Anagni, Lazio Region, Italy, 24 November 2024. (EPA)
Security stand guard ahead of the G7 Foreign Ministers meeting in Anagni, Lazio Region, Italy, 24 November 2024. (EPA)

Foreign ministers from the world’s leading industrialized nations are meeting Monday, with the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East entering decisive phases and a certain pressure to advance diplomatic efforts ahead of the new US administration taking over.

Hopes for brokering a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon are foremost on the agenda of the Group of Seven meeting outside Rome that is gathering ministers from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

On the first day of the two-day gathering Monday, the G7 will be joined by ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, as well as the Secretary General of the Arab League.

“With partners will be discussed ways to support efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon, initiatives to support the population and the promotion of a credible political horizon for stability in the region,” the Italian foreign ministry said.

The so-called “Quint” grouping of the US, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and the UAE has been working to finalize a “day after” plan for Gaza, and there is some urgency to make progress before the Trump administration takes over in January. President-elect Donald Trump is expected to pursue a policy that strongly favors Israel over the aspirations of the Palestinians.

Host Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani added another item to the G7 agenda last week after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and Hamas’ military chief.

Italy is a founding member of the court and hosted the 1998 Rome conference that gave birth to it. But Italy’s right-wing government has been a strong supporter of Israel after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, while also providing humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza.

The Italian government has taken a cautious line, reaffirming its support and respect for the court but expressing concern that the warrants were politically motivated.

“There can be no equivalence between the responsibilities of the state of Israel and the terrorist organization of Hamas,” Premier Giorgia Meloni said, echoing the statement from US President Joe Biden.

Nathalie Tocci, director of the Rome-based Institute for International Affairs think tank, said Italy would be seeking to forge a united front on the ICC warrants, at least among the six G7 countries that are signatories of the court: everyone but the US.

But in an essay this weekend in La Stampa newspaper, Tocci warned it was a risky move, since the US tends to dictate the G7 line and has blasted the ICC warrants against Netanyahu as “outrageous.”

“If Italy and the other (five G7) signatories of the ICC are unable to maintain the line on international law, they will not only erode it anyway but will be acting against our interests,” Tocci wrote, recalling Italy’s recourse to international law in demanding protection for Italian UN peacekeepers who have come under fire in southern Lebanon.

The other major talking point of the G7 meeting is Ukraine, and tensions have only heightened since Russia attacked Ukraine last week with an experimental, hypersonic ballistic missile that escalated the nearly 33-month-old war.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha is expected at the G7 in Fiuggi on Tuesday, and NATO and Ukraine are to hold emergency talks the same day in Brussels.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the strike was retaliation for Kyiv’s use of US and British longer-range missiles capable of striking deeper into Russian territory.

The G7 has been at the forefront of providing military and economic support for Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in February 2022 and G7 members are particularly concerned about how a Trump administration will change the US approach.

Trump has criticized the billions of dollars that the Biden administration has poured into Ukraine and has said he could end the war in 24 hours, comments that appear to suggest he would press Ukraine to surrender territory that Russia now occupies.

Italy is a strong supporter of Ukraine and has backed the US decision to allow Ukraine to strike Russia with US-made, longer-range missiles. But Italy has invoked the country’s constitutional repudiation of war in declining to provide Ukraine with offensive weaponry to strike inside Russia and limiting its aid to anti-air defense systems to protect Ukrainian civilians.

The G7 foreign ministers’ meeting, the second of the Italian presidency after ministers gathered in Capri in April, is being held in the medieval town of Fiuggi southeast of Rome, best known for its thermal spas.

On Monday, which coincides with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, ministers will attend the inauguration of a red bench meant to symbolize Italy’s focus on fighting gender-based violence.

Over the weekend, tens of thousands of people marched in Rome to protest gender-based violence, which in Italy so far this year has claimed the lives of 99 women, according to a report last week by the Eures think tank.