(CNN) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned Western countries that they are taking a “very serious and dangerous step” by supplying weapons to Ukraine, which could result in Moscow arming its enemies.
Ukraine has relied heavily on weapons supplied by Western allies to repel Russian forces since Putin’s large-scale invasion began more than two years ago. And last week, US President Joe Biden for the first time authorized Kyiv to use US munitions to carry out limited attacks inside Russian territory, after several European countries removed restrictions on the use of the weapons they supply. .
“Supplying weapons to a conflict zone is always a bad thing,” Putin told international news agency editors on Wednesday on the sidelines of the annual economic forum in St. Petersburg. “Especially if this is combined with the fact that those who supply them not only deliver weapons, but also manage them.”
Putin also warned that Russia could retaliate if Western countries are deemed to have become directly involved in the Ukraine conflict.
“In the end, if we see that these countries are involved in a war against us, what they are doing makes them directly involved in a war against the Russian Federation, we reserve the right to act in the same way,” he said. “Overall, this leads to some serious problems.”
And he raised the prospect of retaliation by asking why Russia “would not have the right to supply our weapons of the same class to regions of the world where attacks occur against the sensitive facilities of countries that are doing this against Russia.”
The Ukrainian military has begun using HIMARS rocket systems supplied by the United States to attack Russian air defense systems, weapons depots and other military targets on Russian territory, a Ukrainian parliament deputy told CNN on Wednesday.
Yehor Cherniev, deputy chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament’s Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence, said American weapons had allowed them to “significantly reduce the bombing of Kharkiv by Russian S-300 missiles.”
In his comments Wednesday, Putin said Russia would upgrade air defense systems to destroy incoming missiles.
He also criticized Berlin, following comments last week by the leaders of France and Germany that Ukraine should be able to use its weapons against targets inside Russia from which Moscow attacks Ukraine.
The appearance of German tanks in Ukraine had caused an “ethical clash” in Russia, where the attitude towards Germany had previously been “very good”, Putin said.
“Now, when they say that some more missiles will appear and attack targets on Russian territory, this, of course, ends up destroying Russian-German relations,” he added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is sworn in during a ceremony at the Moscow Kremlin on May 7, 2024. (Credit: Alexander Kazakov/AFP/Getty Images)
Speaking alongside French President Emmanuel Macron on May 28, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stated that Ukraine has the right to defend itself as long as it respects the conditions given by the countries that supplied the weapons — including the United States — and the law. international.
“Ukraine has every possibility under international law for what it is doing. That must be said explicitly,” Scholz said. “I find it strange that some would argue that he should not be allowed to defend himself and take appropriate measures to do so.”
Ukraine has been asking Washington for months to allow it to attack targets on Russian soil with US weapons, as Moscow launched a brutal air and ground assault on Kharkiv, knowing its troops could retreat to Russian soil to regroup and their weapons depots. they could not be attacked with Western weapons.
The United States remains steadfast in not allowing Ukraine to use the most formidable ammunition it has been given to fire on Russia: the long-range missiles known as ATACMS that can hit targets up to 300 kilometers away.
Instead, Ukraine can only use shorter-range missiles known as GMLRS, which have a range of about 70 kilometers.
