Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened that Russia can supply weapons to other countries to strike at the West, the British newspaper "Guardian" headlined, BTA wrote in the press review.
The publication notes that this warning comes after a US senator confirmed that Ukraine recently used US weapons to strike Russian territory. Putin yesterday criticized the West's delivery of long-range weapons to Ukraine and warned that Moscow could provide similar weapons to other countries to attack Western targets.
„If someone thinks it is possible to deliver such weapons into a war zone to attack our territory and cause us trouble, why should we not be allowed to deliver our weapons of the same type to regions of the world where they will be hit sensitive sites of countries that act against Russia in this way?”, Putin said at a large press conference in St. Petersburg, organized for representatives of foreign news agencies.
His comments came after a US senator and a Western official confirmed that Ukraine had recently used US weapons to strike Russian territory. The weapons were used in accordance with recently approved directives by US President Joe Biden that allow the use of US weapons to strike Russian territory with the limited purpose of defending Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city. Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, confirmed the strikes by US weapons but did not say who informed him. Biden's directive allows US-supplied weapons to be used to attack Russian forces that are attacking or preparing to attack. It does not change U.S. policy, which recommends that Ukraine not use U.S.-provided ATAKMS tactical missiles or long-range missiles and other munitions to strike Russian territory, U.S. officials said.
Germany also recently allowed Ukraine to strike some targets on Russian soil with Berlin-supplied long-range weapons, a move Putin said would be a “dangerous step” that would damage relations between Berlin and Moscow.
Ukrainian officials have stepped up calls for the US and other allies to allow Ukrainian forces to defend themselves against attacks coming from Russian territory. Kharkiv is located only 20 km from the Russian border and is subject to increased Russian attacks, the British publication points out. According to a June 3 report by the Institute for the Study of War, Ukrainian forces struck a Russian S-300/400 air defense battery in the Belgorod region, possibly with a HYMARS missile system, on June 1 or 2. The air defense system was located about 60 km from the current front line in the northern part of the Kharkiv region and more than 80 km from the city of Kharkiv, falling within the range of HAYMARS, the institute reports.
Putin threatens to supply weapons to third countries that can strike at Western interests, the French newspaper Figaro wrote in a headline. The publication notes that these comments come at a time when the West is beginning to allow Ukraine to strike Russian territory, under certain conditions, with Western weapons supplied to Kiev.
Putin warned that he would supply weapons to third countries that could strike Western interests if the West allowed Ukraine to strike Russia with its long-range missiles. Ukraine has been pushing for such a permit for months. However, Putin said that if long-range Western missiles were fired at targets in Russia in the future, Moscow would retaliate. Many Western countries oppose the use of their weapons against Russian territory, particularly long-range and high-precision missiles, fearing that this could lead to escalation by Russia.
The Russian president also claimed that Western military instructors are “already in Ukraine and suffering losses” which they are keeping secret. "They are on Ukrainian territory and unfortunately they are suffering losses. The US and European countries prefer to remain silent," Putin said at the press conference organized within the framework of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum.
France recently announced that it is considering sending military instructors to Ukraine to speed up the training of Ukrainian soldiers, and forming a European coalition to that end. Putin had already said last week that Western instructors were in Ukraine “under the guise of mercenaries” fighting alongside Ukrainian forces. Other countries, such as the United States, have denied sending instructors, and no country has reported the presence of its military in Ukraine.
At the press conference, the Russian leader repeated his arguments that Russia is ready to sit at the negotiating table and that the best way to stop the war is for the West to “stop supplying arms” of Ukraine. "Delivering weapons to a conflict zone is always a bad thing. Especially when it comes to the fact that suppliers not only supply weapons, but also control them. This is a very serious and very dangerous step," he added. Putin refused to give figures on the losses suffered by the Russian army in almost two and a half years of war, saying simply that they were “much lower” of the Ukrainian losses, as “the ratio is one to five”. “If we talk about irreparable losses (human casualties), then the ratio is one to five” compared to the losses suffered by the Ukrainian side, he said.