"If you’re worried about Ukrainian military capabilities, then you should take your troops and leave Ukraine" — White House responds to Lavrov's F-16 statements

White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby responds to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's statements that the West is trying to increase tensions by agreeing to provide Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets. Lavrov also claimed that one of the F-16 modifications could carry nuclear weapons.

"The first thing I would say to Minister Lavrov is: If you’re worried about Ukrainian military capabilities, you should take your troops and leave Ukraine. It’s not the United States who’s tossing around reckless nuclear rhetoric; it’s people like Foreign Minister Lavrov, President Putin, and Putin’s Press Secretary Peskov are out there bantering about nuclear capabilities," Kirby says at the press briefing.

The White House representative states a training programme for Ukrainian pilots on the F-16 is currently being prepared but has not yet begun. The primary programme aims to help Ukraine with self-defence.