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.

 

 



Iran’s Khamenei Calls for Death Sentence for Israeli Leaders

A handout picture provided by the office of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei shows him addressing the crowd during a meeting with members of the Basij volunteer militia in Tehran on November 25, 2024. (KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)
A handout picture provided by the office of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei shows him addressing the crowd during a meeting with members of the Basij volunteer militia in Tehran on November 25, 2024. (KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)
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Iran’s Khamenei Calls for Death Sentence for Israeli Leaders

A handout picture provided by the office of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei shows him addressing the crowd during a meeting with members of the Basij volunteer militia in Tehran on November 25, 2024. (KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)
A handout picture provided by the office of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei shows him addressing the crowd during a meeting with members of the Basij volunteer militia in Tehran on November 25, 2024. (KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)

The supreme leader of Iran, which backs the Hamas and Hezbollah fighters combating Israel in Gaza and Lebanon, said on Monday that death sentences should be issued for Israeli leaders, not arrest warrants.

Ali Khamenei was commenting on a decision by the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants on Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense chief and a Hamas leader, Ibrahim Al-Masri.

"They issued an arrest warrant, that's not enough... Death sentence must be issued for these criminal leaders", Khamenei said, referring to the Israeli leaders.

In their decision, the ICC judges said there were reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant were criminally responsible for acts including murder, persecution and starvation as a weapon of war as part of a "widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza".

The decision was met with outrage in Israel, which called it shameful and absurd. Gaza residents expressed hope it would help end the violence and bring those responsible for war crimes to justice.

Israel has rejected the jurisdiction of the Hague-based court and denies war crimes in Gaza.

The warrant for a Hamas leader, Ibrahim Al-Masri, lists charges of mass killings during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel that triggered the war on the long-blockaded Palestinian enclave, and also charges of rape and the taking of hostages.

Israel has said it killed Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif, in an airstrike in July but Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied this.