PUTIN SAYS WEST WILL BE FIGHTING DIRECTLY WITH RUSSIA – Putin says their direct participation will change the nature of the conflict.
President Vladimir Putin said that the West would be directly fighting with Russia if it allowed Ukraine to strike Russian territory with Western-made long-range missiles, a move he said would alter the nature and scope of the conflict.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been pleading with Kyiv’s allies for months to let Ukraine fire Western missiles including long-range U.S. ATACMS and British Storm Shadows deep into Russian territory to limit Moscow’s ability to launch attacks.
Putin said such a move would drag the countries supplying Kyiv with long-range missiles directly into the war since satellite targeting data and the actual programming of the missiles’ flight paths would have to be done by NATO military personnel because Kyiv did not have the capabilities itself.
Putin says it is not a question of allowing the Ukrainian regime to strike Russia with these weapons or not, but a question of deciding whether or not NATO countries are directly involved in a military conflict.
Putin also says Russia would be forced to take what he calls “appropriate decisions” based on the new threats.
