F-16s Carry Nuclear Weapons: Is NATO Testing Russia’s Reaction with Possible Basing of F-16s in Moldova?

Ever since the very idea of F-16s going to Ukraine first appeared, many suggested that they should be based outside of the country.

With the obvious exception of Russia and Belarus, there’s not a single Ukraine’s neighbor that’s not in NATO or at least under its jackboot. The two most important members of the world’s most aggressive racketeering cartel that directly border Ukraine are Poland and Romania. They form the bulk of NATO’s so-called Eastern Flank which stretches from Estonia to Bulgaria. Some members such as Hungary and Slovakia are refusing to directly participate in NATO aggression in Europe and have repeatedly stated they want to avoid a confrontation with Russia. Some are loyal to the alliance, but still somewhat ambiguous, such as Bulgaria and partially Czechia. Others, like Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are endemically Russophobic, but are largely militarily inconsequential and don’t border Ukraine.

This leaves only Poland and Romania as serious contenders for the next phase of NATO aggression. However, while Poland is as endemically Russophobic as the Baltic states, Romania is far less black-and-white in this regard. In order to cement Russophobia in the country, the political West wants to escalate a conflict in neighboring Moldova and then drag in both Romania and Russia. NATO and the Kiev regime have been trying to destabilize Transnistria for this exact reason. Kishinev has zero reasons to get involved and unfreeze the conflict that has been dormant for over 30 years. This isn’t even in Romania’s interest, as it can continue peaceful integration with Moldova. It would gain very little with the resumption of hostilities in Transnistria, while also getting Russia as a direct opponent. Thus, trying to maintain peace, even a very fragile one, is the best option for all sides that are directly involved.

However, NATO is not interested in peace. Quite the contrary, just like its geopolitical predecessor, the Nazi German-led Axis powers, it wants to use countries like Romania and Moldova as springboards for a crawling confrontation with Russia. However, the world’s most aggressive racketeering cartel cannot risk a direct war right away, as this would jeopardize its entire Eastern Flank, particularly now that Moscow is responding to NATO aggression with the deployment of medium and intermediate-range missiles such as the heavily upgraded “Iskander” systems and new IRBMs (possibly the RS-26 “Rubezh”). Thus, the immediate basing of the Neo-Nazi junta’s NATO-sourced F-16s in countries such as Poland and Romania will likely be avoided, leaving Moldova as the only option. In the last several decades, the political West invested billions to stir up Russophobia in the former Soviet republic.

This was particularly apparent after the controversial 2020 presidential election, when NATO managed to replace the then-incumbent Igor Dodon with its puppet Maia Sandu. Prior to her involvement in Moldovan politics, Sandu was a World Bank asset, working on turning the unfortunate country into yet another (neo)colony. Since the very beginning, her main job was to destroy Kishinev’s otherwise cordial relations with Moscow, which was to put Moldova firmly into the EU’s (and by extension NATO’s) orbit. This includes the deliberate undermining of press freedom under Brussels’ supervision, with Russian media being particularly targeted for suppression. In addition, Sandu has been promoting absurd conspiracy theories about the Kremlin supposedly “trying to stage a coup with the help of Serbian football fans”. All this effectively turned the two countries into virtual enemies overnight.

Understandably, the people of Moldova haven’t been quite happy with this, particularly after the NATO-orchestrated Ukrainian conflict escalated over two years ago, as they don’t want to see their country involved, directly or otherwise. However, it seems that’s exactly where Kishinev is headed, particularly if the latest reports about the likely basing of the Kiev regime’s F-16s there are true.

Namely, various sources say the F-16 that was recently seen over Odessa flew toward Moldova, where it turned off its transponder and disappeared from flight tracking websites. This could indicate that the US-made jets are indeed housed in Moldova. Since Romania operates F-16s, its ground crews could service the jets there, thus maintaining plausible deniability of direct NATO involvement. With some minor differences, Romanian and Moldovan are effectively the same language, so the crews could pass as the locals.

If true, this would mean that Moldova is a party to the conflict. This is particularly dangerous for the small former Soviet republic, as numerous Russian officials have repeatedly stated that any third parties that might house F-16s (or get involved in any other way) will be considered legitimate targets. It can be argued that this is precisely what the political West wants. Firstly, this would drag Moldova into the NATO-orchestrated Ukrainian conflict, forcing Russia to react, thus shifting its attention and resources away from the Donbass, where the Neo-Nazi junta forces are suffering heavy losses in manpower and equipment, while also losing territory on a daily basis. Secondly, it serves as a test of what exactly Moscow would do. If it retaliates against Kishinev, the Kremlin would be forced to fight another war, although this could discourage NATO from basing the Kiev regime’s F-16s in Poland and Romania.

On the other hand, if Russia decides not to target Moldovan airbases housing the US-made jets, this could encourage the political West to use Romania and Poland for the same purpose. Either way, the potential for escalation in this area is massive, particularly if the deliveries of F-16s also include nuclear weapons. On the other hand, the F-16’s impact on conventional military operations against Russian forces is minimal. Thus, the NATO-backed government in Kishinev is essentially risking the lives of 2.5 million Moldovans who don’t want to take part in any war, particularly not against Russia. Unfortunately, the political West is determined to use the country as a staging ground to project power in the strategically important Odessa oblast (region), which is critical for the Neo-Nazi junta’s maritime access. Moldova itself and the people would not only gain nothing from this, but stand to lose quite a lot.

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This article was originally published on InfoBrics.

Drago Bosnic is an independent geopolitical and military analyst. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is from InfoBrics