(RightIsRight.co) – Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a stern warning to Germany and the U.S., as he threatened to supply long-range weapons to NATO adversaries to hit Western targets if the two countries continue allowing Ukraine to use its arms on Russian soil.
“That would make their direct involvement in the war against the Russian Federation, and we reserve the right to act the same way,” Putin told reporters at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
He further added:
“If they consider it possible to deliver such weapons to the combat zone to launch strikes on our territory and create problems for us, why don’t we have the right to supply weapons of the same type to some regions of the world where they can be used to launch strikes on sensitive facilities of the countries that do it to Russia?”
Putin singled out Germany after Berlin joined the U.S. in allowing Ukraine to target Russian sites with their munitions. He warned that if Ukraine uses German arms “to strike facilities on the Russian territory, it will completely ruin Russian-German relations.”
Late in May, the Biden administration allowed Ukraine to use American weapons to strike inside Russia in certain situations.
A U.S. official claimed that these instances would be for “counter-fire purposes in the Kharkiv region so Ukraine can hit back against Russian forces that are attacking them or preparing to attack them.”
This directive does not alter U.S. policy against Ukraine using American ATACMS — tactical ballistic missiles — and other munitions for offensive strikes within Russia.
Moreover, an unnamed U.S. senator and an administration official informed that Ukraine had used American weapons to hit the approved targets. However, White House National Security spokesman John Kirby stated that he could not confirm these details.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz commented on Berlin’s decision to follow the U.S. lead and said he did not believe it would escalate the war.
“As the U.S. president said, we are talking only about the possibility of protecting a large city, for example, Kharkiv,” Scholz asserted. He mentioned that the decision was made after consulting with “friends and allies.”
Additionally, a spokesman for Scholz’s administration explained that recent Russian attacks in the Kharkiv region prompted the policy change. He described the attacks as “prepared, coordinated, and carried out” from positions near the border.
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