Ukraine has moved a step closer to securing advanced fighter jets, as Russia stated supplying F-16s would carry "enourmous risks" for the West.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy attended the G7 summit in Hiroshima where he met with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and others.
G7 leaders vowed to support Ukraine for “as long as it takes” and to increase the costs to Russia and those who support its war.
Zelenskyy and Ukraine appear to be moving closer to securing the fighter jets the president has asked for to replace the Soviet era planes it is currently using.
American president president Joe Biden authorised western allies to transfer advanced fighters, while the UK has aready pledged to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 jets.
This week the U.S government announced its support for the training programme, saying: "As the training takes place over the coming months, our coalition of countries participating in this effort will decide when to actually provide jets, how many we will provide, and who will provide them."
Read More: UK to supply Ukraine with long-range missiles, defence secretary confirms
Both Britain and the Netherlands have committed to a "jets coalition" but stopped short of pledging to send fighters to Ukraine.
The U.S has also refused to send fighter jets and long-range missiles which could strike deep inside Russian territory with fears that could lead to an escalation.
Russia is believed to possess around 6,000 nuclear warheads with over 1,500 ready to be launched, and announced at the end of last month that it plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.
It was to this that the Kremlin alluded as it responded to the news from the G7 summit.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told the Tass news agency: “We can see that Western countries continue to stick to an escalation scenario, which carries enormous risks for them.
“In any case, we will take it into account when making plans.
“We have all the necessary means to achieve our goals.”
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