Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Germany on Wednesday that the use of its weapons by Ukraine to strike inside Russia would mark a “dangerous step,” and he said Moscow could, in turn, provide long-range arms to others to strike Western targets.
After the United States, Germany also recently gave permission to Ukraine to hit targets on Russian territory with weapons supplied by them. Most medium- and long-range Western missiles have GPS guidance chips, thus their range can be limited to any chosen region.
Such action by the West will further undermine international security and could lead to “very serious problems,” Putin said, adding that Russia could follow suit and arm fellow belligerents to hit back at the West.
“That would mark their direct involvement in the war against the Russian Federation, and we reserve the right to act the same way,” he said.
The Russian president did not specify what types of weapons he was willing to give third countries but warned that because Ukraine’s use of Western weapons involves NATO military personnel controlling the missiles and selecting targets, Moscow could take “asymmetrical” steps elsewhere in the world.
“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 asked.
“We will think about it,” he told the journalists on the sidelines of the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
