VLADIVOSTOK. Sept 12 (Interfax) - Deliveries of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine will not change anything but will only drag out the conflict, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"Now they are going to supply F-16s. Will this change anything? No, it won't. It will simply drag out the conflict," Putin said at the Eastern Economic Forum in response to the relevant question.
Deliveries of shells with depleted uranium will not reverse the situation on the frontline either, he said.
"The same concerns [rounds] with depleted uranium: soil is being contaminated. It's bad, very bad," Putin said when commenting on the decision to provide such munitions to Ukraine.
Deliveries of depleted-uranium shells to Ukraine are a crime, Putin said, adding that the U.S. administration just recently viewed the use of cluster munitions as a war crime.
"They declared publicly that it is a crime, but are taking these steps. [...] They've calculated that since 155mm munitions are running out and it is difficult to produce them both in European countries and in the U.S., they are giving what they have in their arsenals. They have cluster munitions, so they start delivering cluster munitions, munitions with depleted uranium - all in one pile. But these are the crimes they spoke about themselves, not me. They said that it is a crime, but they are doing it," Putin said.