BAKU, Azerbaijan : Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry pledged on Saturday “to take the toughest possible measures” to stop the use of Iranian weapons by Russia against Ukraine.

“The Iranian Foreign Minister publicly admitted that Tehran handed over combat drones to the Russian Federation allegedly a few months before its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Earlier, Iran strongly denied the supply of weapons to Russia, which it uses in the war,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said on Facebook.

He stressed “the Iranian minister spread insinuations about the alleged refusal of the Ukrainian side to meet with Iranian experts under pressure from Western partners.”

“Ukraine has learned to trust only facts. Therefore, the Foreign Ministry headed by Dmytro Kuleba, as well as in close coordination with the Ukrainian agencies involved, will continue to take the most toughest measures to exclude the use of Iranian weapons by Russia to kill Ukrainians and destroy our critical infrastructure.

“Tehran should realize that the consequences of complicity in the crimes of Russian aggression against Ukraine will be much more extensive than the benefits of Russia’s support,” Nikolenko said.

Earlier on Saturday, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency published an interview with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian in which he said that Iran delivered a batch of drones to Russia before the start of its “special operation in Ukraine.” — AA