President Vladimir Putin has warned that if NATO authorizes Ukraine to use long-range missiles to hit targets on Russian territory, it will mean Ukraine will be at war with Russia.
“If this decision is made, it will mean nothing other than the direct participation of NATO countries, the US and European countries in the war in Ukraine (…), This will mean that NATO countries, the US and European countries will fight against Russia.“Putin told state television after speaking at a cultural forum in St. Petersburg.
Putin stressed that this decision would change “the very nature of the conflict,” meaning that it would no longer be limited to a war between the Russian and Ukrainian armies.
“If that is so (…), We will make the corresponding decisions based on the threats that they create for us.“, said.
He insisted that NATO is not actually authorising Kiev to use these long-range missiles, whether the ATCAMS or the Storm Shadow, because the Ukrainian army does not have the technical capacity to do so.
“Missions can only be determined by the military of NATO countries”
Putin stressed that, according to the opinion of Russian and Western experts, such missiles can only be launched against Russian territory with the help of intelligence data from US or EU satellites, since Ukraine does not have them.
“And the most important thing is that, in fact, flight missions can only be determined by the military of NATO countries,” he said.
Last May, the Kremlin chief already used the same argument against the use of Western weapons against targets on Russian territory.
He then warned European countries of “serious consequences”, alluding to the fact that, normally, “they are States with small but densely populated territories”.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the West had long given Ukraine permission to attack Russian territory with long-range missiles.
Lavrov described as a “staged” visit to kyiv on Wednesday by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who reportedly discussed the issues with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“The number of (Ukrainian) attacks on civilian targets and shooting at civilians is increasing dramatically every day. (…) Western military specialists literally manually coordinate attacks with high-precision weapons“, said.
He also accused NATO of supplying Kiev with data from its intelligence satellites, which are used to “strike targets inside Russian territory,” including energy and industrial infrastructure, but also homes, schools and hospitals.
During their visit to kyiv, both Blinken and Lammy stressed that the authorization for the use of long-range missiles will be discussed by their respective heads of state at the meeting they will both hold in Washington.
“It is Putin who has escalated the situation this week by sending ballistic missiles from Iran,” Lammy said.
Source: https://www.noticiascaracol.com/mundo/putin-advierte-que-la-otan-estara-en-guerra-con-rusia-si-permite-a-ucrania-usar-misiles-cb20
