World
Russia-Ukraine war: Why I will not attack Nato countries – Putin
“We have no aggressive intentions towards these states,” Putin said, according to a Kremlin transcript released on Thursday.
“The idea that we will attack some other country – Poland, the Baltic States, and the Czechs are also being scared – is complete nonsense. It’s just drivel.”
The Kremlin, which accuses the US of fighting against Russia by supporting Ukraine with money, weapons and intelligence, says relations with Washington have probably never been worse, reports Reuters.
Asked about F-16 fighters which the west has promised to send to Ukraine, Putin said such aircraft would not change the situation in Ukraine. “If they supply F-16s, and they are talking about this and are apparently training pilots, this will not change the situation on the battlefield,” Putin said.
Russian president Vladimir Putin said late on Wednesday that Russia has no designs on any Nato country. Photograph: Sergei Karpukhin/AP
“And we will destroy the aircraft just as we destroy today tanks, armoured vehicles and other equipment, including multiple rocket launchers.”
Putin said that F-16 could also carry nuclear weapons.
“Of course, if they will be used from airfields in third countries, they become for us legitimate targets, wherever they might be located,” Putin said.
Putin’s remarks followed comments earlier in the day by Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba that the aircraft should arrive in Ukraine in the coming months.
Ukraine, now more than two years into a full-fledged war against Russia, has sought F-16s for many months.
Belgium, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands are among countries which have pledged to donate F-16s. A coalition of countries has promised to help train Ukrainian pilots in their use.
The New York judge presiding over President-elect Donald Trump’s hush money case, on Friday, set sentencing for 10 days before his January 20 inauguration and said he was not inclined to impose jail time.
Judge Juan Merchan said Trump, the first former president ever convicted of a crime, can appear either in person or virtually at his January 10 sentencing.
In an 18-page decision, Merchan upheld Trump’s conviction by a New York jury, rejecting various motions from Trump’s lawyers seeking to have it thrown out.
The judge said that instead of incarceration he was leaning towards an unconditional discharge –- meaning the real estate tycoon would not be subject to any conditions.
The sentence would nevertheless see Trump entering the White House as a convicted felon.
The 78-year-old Trump potentially faced up to four years in prison but legal experts — even before he won the November presidential election — did not expect Merchan to send the former president to jail.
“It seems proper at this juncture to make known the Court’s inclination to not impose any sentence of incarceration,” the judge said, noting that prosecutors also did not believe a jail term was a “practicable recommendation.”
Trump is expected to lodge an appeal that could potentially delay his sentencing.
Trump was convicted in New York in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels on the eve of the 2016 election to stop her from revealing an alleged 2006 sexual encounter.
Trump’s attorneys had sought to have the case dismissed on multiple grounds, including the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling last year that former US presidents have sweeping immunity from prosecution for a range of official acts committed while in office.
Merchan rejected that argument but he noted that Trump will be immune from prosecution once he is sworn in as president.
“Finding no legal impediment to sentencing and recognizing that Presidential immunity will likely attach once Defendant takes his Oath of Office, it is incumbent upon this Court to set this matter down for imposition of sentence prior to January 20, 2025,” the judge said.
“This lawless case should have never been brought and the Constitution demands that it be immediately dismissed,” Cheung said in a statement.
“President Trump must be allowed to continue the Presidential Transition process and to execute the vital duties of the presidency, unobstructed by the remains of this or any remnants of the Witch Hunts,” he said.
“There should be no sentencing, and President Trump will continue fighting against these hoaxes until they are all dead,” Cheung added.
Trump also faced two federal cases brought by special counsel Jack Smith but both were dropped under a long-standing Justice Department policy of not prosecuting a sitting president.
In those cases, Trump was accused of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election he lost to Joe Biden and removing large quantities of top secret documents after leaving the White House.
Trump also faces racketeering charges in Georgia over his alleged efforts to subvert the 2020 election results in the southern state, but that case will likely be frozen while he is in the White House.
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