President Vladimir Putin has warned that if Western nations allow Ukraine to use long-range weapons to strike inside Russia then it will mean NATO would be “at war” with his country.
“This would in a significant way change the very nature of the conflict. It would mean that NATO countries, the US, European countries, are at war with Russia,” Putin told Russian state TV on Thursday.
“And if this is so, then, bearing in mind the change in the very essence of this conflict, we will make appropriate decisions based on the threats that will be created for us,” he said.
His comments come ahead of a meeting in Washington, DC, on Friday between British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Joe Biden, who are expected to discuss giving Ukraine the go-ahead to strike targets inside Russia amid mounting concerns over its losses on the battlefield.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly called for restrictions on Western-supplied, long-range weapons to be lifted so his forces can target airfields, ammunition depots and command centres deep inside Russia, also increasing the costs of the invasion for Moscow.
Speaking to reporters en route to the US, Starmer said, “Russia started this conflict. Russia illegally invaded Ukraine. Russia can end this conflict straight away. Ukraine has the right to self-defence”, according to British media reports.
It will likely be the last meeting between the US and British leaders before Biden leaves office and ahead of the US presidential election in November that will pit Democrat Kamala Harris against Republican Donald Trump.
Trump repeatedly refused to take sides on the war, which started with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, during a debate with Harris this week, saying only: “I want the war to stop.”
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