MOSCOW (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin has delivered a clear message to the West about the consequences it will face if it allows Ukraine to hit Russian territory with Western long-range missiles, the Kremlin said on Friday.
Putin said on Thursday that the West would be directly fighting with Russia if it allowed Ukraine to strike Russian territory with Western-made long-range missiles, a move he said would alter the nature and scope of the conflict.
“The statement made by President Putin yesterday is very important. It is extremely clear, unambiguous and does not allow for double readings. We have no doubt that this statement reached those it was intended for,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been pleading with Kyiv’s allies for months to let Ukraine fire Western missiles including long-range U.S. ATACMS and British Storm Shadows deep into Russian territory to limit Moscow’s ability to launch attacks.
U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will discuss whether to give the go-ahead for such strikes at talks in Washington on Friday.
Putin said on Thursday that such a move would drag the countries supplying Kyiv with long-range missiles directly into the war. He said satellite targeting data and programming of the missiles’ flight paths would have to be provided by NATO military personnel, as Kyiv did not have the capabilities itself.
“If this decision is taken, it will mean nothing less than the direct involvement of NATO countries, the United States and European countries in the war in Ukraine,” he said, and Russia would be forced to take “appropriate decisions”.
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; Writing by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Peter Graff)
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