ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — President Vladimir Putin Russia warned on Wednesday it may provide other countries with long-range weapons to attack Western targets in retaliation for NATO allies allowing Ukraine to launch armed attacks on Russian territory.
Putin also reiterated Russia’s readiness to use nuclear weapons if it believes its sovereignty is threatened.
While answering questions from international journalists, he said recent actions by Western countries could further undermine international security and lead to “very serious problems”, something highly unusual since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine.
“This demonstrates their direct involvement in the war against the Russian Federation, and we reserve the right to act in kind,” Putin added.
USA and Germany Russia recently gave Ukraine permission to attack some targets on Russian territory with long-range weapons it has supplied to Kiev.
on wednesday, Western government officials and U.S. senators Ukraine says it used US weapons in attack on Russian soil Based on the newly approved guidelines President Joe Biden will authorize the limited use of American weapons for defensive purposes. KharkovThe officials in Ukraine’s second-largest city were not authorized to comment publicly on the sensitive issue and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Putin argued that the use of weapons supplied by Western countries would involve their own military personnel operating the missiles and selecting targets, so Moscow may take ‘asymmetric’ steps The U.S. military said it has no control over the missiles it provides to Ukraine or their targets.
“If they think it is possible to bring such weapons into a combat zone, attack our territory and cause problems for us, then why don’t we have the right to supply some parts of the world with the same type of weapons that can be used to attack sensitive facilities of countries that are attacking Russia?” he said.
“We will look into it,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Asked whether Russia might resort to using nuclear weapons, Putin said the conditions for their use were clearly laid out in Moscow’s security doctrine.
“For some reason, we believe in the West that Russia will never use it,” he said.
“Look what it says there,” he said of Russia’s nuclear policy, “and we believe that if anyone’s actions threaten our sovereignty and territorial integrity, we may use all available means.”
Putin said Russia’s battlefield nuclear weapons are far more powerful than those used by the United States against Japan in World War II.
Speaking to senior spokespersons from international news agencies, including The Associated Press, for more than three hours, Putin also said that relations between Russia and the United States would not change regardless of whether Biden or Donald Trump wins the US presidential election in November.
“We will work with any president the American people choose,” Putin said.
“I say this wholeheartedly, I don’t believe that anything is going to change in terms of Russian activity in American politics after the election,” he added. “We don’t think so. We don’t think anything too serious is going to happen.”
President Putin also Trump’s felony conviction The problems uncovered in last week’s hush money trial were the result of “the use of the court system as part of an internal political battle.”
The Russian leader was questioned on a range of topics, but more than two years of fighting in Ukraine dominated the discussion.
In a letter purportedly written to Biden, Putin said fighting could end within two to three months if the United States stopped supplying weapons to Kiev, arguing that Western countries had the opportunity to end the fighting in Ukraine but did not act.
Asked about Russian military losses, Putin said no country would reveal such information during fighting, but without giving details, claimed Ukrainian casualties were five times higher than Russia’s.
He also said that more than 1,300 Russian soldiers are being held as prisoners of war in Ukraine, and that more than 6,400 Ukrainian soldiers are being held in Russia.
This claim cannot be independently verified, and some Western estimates put Russian losses at much greater than those of Ukraine.
Asked by The Associated Press about the case of Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich, Putin said the United States was “taking vigorous measures” to secure his release. Gershkovich was jailed on a reporting trip more than a year ago and charged with espionage. The journalist, his employer and the United States have denied the charges, and Washington has declared he is being held unjustly.
Putin said such announcements would be “not decided through the mass media,” but through a careful, calm and professional approach.
“And they should only be decided on the basis of reciprocity,” he added, hinting at the possibility of a prisoner swap.
President Putin St. Petersburg Forum The meeting took place at Gazprom’s new global headquarters, a needle-shaped 81-story skyscraper overlooking the Gulf of Finland, as a showcase to promote Russian development and woo investors.
While he had met with journalists at previous meetings, he has not taken questions from Western journalists at the St. Petersburg meeting since sending troops to Ukraine.
Last year, journalists from countries Russia considers unfriendly, such as the United States, Britain and the European Union, were not invited, and Western officials and investors also avoided the meeting after widespread sanctions were imposed on Moscow over Ukraine.
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Associated Press writer Ammar Madani in Washington contributed.
