The Kremlin announced yesterday that Western countries supplying Ukraine with weapons for attacks on Russian territory will have to confront Russia, after President Vladimir Putin said he was considering arming the enemies of the West.
Speaking to international news agency editors in St. Petersburg on Wednesday, the Russian leader said Moscow was considering supplying advanced long-range weapons - or weapons similar to those the West gives Ukraine - to Western enemies around the world.
In his statements, Putin mentioned the long-range missiles sent to Ukraine by the US and Britain.
"We are thinking that if someone thinks that it is possible to send such weapons to the war zone for attacks on our territory and creating problems, then why should we not have the right to supply those regions of the world with weapons of the same class where there will be attacks on the sensitive facilities of the countries that do this Russia," said Putin. "So the answer can be symmetrical. We will think about it".
Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesman, said the comments were clear and unambiguous and added that he was confident the West had heard Putin's warning. When journalists asked him earlier yesterday if the Kremlin would name the states of the region that Russia could supply with weapons in that way, he answered in the negative. "It is a very important statement and it is very transparent in the sense that the supply of weapons that will be used against us cannot go without consequences, and those consequences will certainly follow".
US President Joe Biden has allowed Kiev to use American weapons against military targets inside Russia, Reuters sources said last month. Washington still prohibits Kiev from attacking Russia with the ATACMS system, which has a range of up to 300 kilometers, and other long-range American weapons.
British Foreign Minister David Cameron told Reuters that Ukraine has the right to use weapons sent to it by Britain for attacks on targets inside Russia, and that it depends on Kiev whether it will do so.
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council and former president, said yesterday that Putin's statements represent a "very significant change" in Russian foreign policy.
"Let the US and its allies now feel the direct use of Russian weapons by third parties. These people or regions are deliberately not named, but it could be anyone who considers Pindostan and its allies to be their enemies," Medvedev wrote on his official Telegram channel, using derogatory Russian slang for the US.
"Regardless of their political beliefs and international recognition. Their enemy is the US, so they are our friends”.
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