Putin: Long-Range Strikes on Russian Territory
Would Put NATO ‘at War With Russia’
Dave DeCamp / Antiwar.com
(Septemer 12, 2024) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday strongly warned the US against allowing Ukraine to use NATO missiles in long-range strikes inside Russian territory, saying the move would put the Western military alliance “at war with Russia.”
Putin’s comments came after POLITICO reported that the White House was finalizing plans to expand the areas inside Russia where Ukraine can use US and British-provided missiles.
“This would in a significant way change the very nature of the conflict,” Putin told a TV reporter, according to AFP. “It would mean that NATO countries, the US, European countries, are at war with Russia. If that’s the case, then taking into account the change of nature of the conflict, we will take the appropriate decisions based on the threats that we will face.”
He added that supporting long-range Ukrainian strikes inside Russian territory is “a decision on whether NATO countries are directly involved in the military conflict or not.”
A day earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv and discussed the issue of long-range strikes. At a press conference in Kyiv, Blinken said they would take the conversation back to their “bosses” and strongly hinted the US was preparing to take the escalatory step.
“Speaking for the United States, from day one, as you’ve heard me say, we have adjusted and adapted as needs have changed, as the battlefield has changed, and I have no doubt that we’ll continue to do that,” Blinken said.
Ukraine drones strike third rssia airfield in two days.
The Guardian reported that a decision has already been made in private to allow Ukraine to use British-provided Storm Shadow missiles, which have a range of about 155 miles. The report said the decision is not expected to be made public in the near future, not even after President Biden meets with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer this Friday.
Earlier this year, a German military leak revealed that British soldiers are “on the ground” in Ukraine helping fire Storm Shadows, which means if they’re used to launch long-range strikes inside Russia, it would be with direct support from the British military.
Putin Puts West On Notice:
Long-Range Arms For Ukraine Will Mean
‘NATO At War With Russia’
Tyler Durden / Zero Hedge
Below are the full Thursday Putin comments, translated and issued by Russian state media:
“I have already mentioned this, and any experts will confirm, both in our country and in the West, that the Ukrainian army is not capable of [independently] carrying out strikes using Western modern, long-range precision systems. It cannot do this. This is possible only with the use of intelligence from satellites which Ukraine does not have. This data is only available from satellites of the European Union or the United States, in other words, from NATO satellites. That’s the first point,” Putin said.
“The second and very important, perhaps key point is that only NATO servicemen can make flight assignments to these missile systems. Ukrainian servicemen cannot do this,” Putin said.
“So this is not about whether or not to allow the Ukrainian regime to strike Russia using these weapons, but of deciding whether or not NATO countries are directly involved in the military conflict or not. If such a decision is taken, it will mean nothing short of direct participation of NATO countries, the United States, European countries, in the war in Ukraine.
This would constitute their direct participation, and this, of course, changes the very essence, the very nature of the conflict. It will mean that NATO countries, the United States and European countries, are at war with Russia. And if this is so, bearing in mind the change in the very nature of the conflict, we will make appropriate decisions based on the threats that will be posed to us,” Putin said.
