Putin tells pilots: F16s can carry nuclear weapons but they won't change things in Ukraine

If Western countries supply Ukraine with F16 fighters, the aircraft will not alter the situation on the battlefield, Russian news agencies quoted President Vladimir Putin as telling military pilots on Wednesday.

But the fighters, he was quoted as saying, can carry nuclear weapons and Moscow would have to take account of that in its military planning.

Putin's remarks, to pilots at a meeting north of Moscow, followed comments earlier in the day by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba that the aircraft should arrive in Ukraine in the coming months.