He warned that Moscow would respond if Kyiv took the ‘dangerous step’ of using German weapons to strike Russian soil.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Germany on Wednesday that the use of its weapons by Ukraine to strike targets inside Russia would mark a “dangerous step”, and he said Moscow could in turn provide long-range weapons to others to strike Western targets.
Such action by the West will further undermine international security and could lead to “very serious problems”. he said.
“That would mark their direct involvement in the war against the Russian Federation, and we reserve the right to act the same way,” Putin added.
Because using such Western weapons for striking Russian territory involves military personnel of the respective countries controlling the missiles and selecting targets, Putin said, Moscow could take “asymmetrical” steps.
That could include giving such weapons to others to target facilities of respective countries elsewhere in the world, he 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?” he said.
“We will think about it,” he said
Germany joined the United States recently in authorising Ukraine to hit some targets on Russian soil with the long-range weapons they are supplying to Kyiv.
