Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the country might supply long-range weapons to strike Western targets in response to NATO allies allowing Ukraine to use Western arms to attack Russian territory, Associated Press reports.
Putin claimed that some Western-supplied weapons are controlled by military personnel from those countries, which justifies potential asymmetrical responses by Russia. He also noted that Russia could supply similar weapons to other regions targeting Western interests. He emphasized Russia’s readiness to use nuclear weapons if its sovereignty is threatened and criticized the West’s involvement in the Ukraine conflict.
Putin accused the West of missing opportunities to end the fighting and claimed, without evidence, that Ukraine’s casualties are significantly higher than Russia’s. He also commented on the US internal political situation, suggesting that Russia-US relations would not change significantly regardless of the outcome of the upcoming US presidential election.
Putin made these remarks at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, where he met with journalists, a practice that had been suspended since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Last year, Western journalists and officials were not invited to the event due to sanctions imposed on Moscow.
