As the US and UK indicate that they are inching closer to allowing Ukraine to use their high-precision, long-range missiles to strike military targets in Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that his country would view that as the “direct participation” of NATO countries in the war.
Speaking in St Petersburg, Putin said that Ukraine was already striking Russian territory using “unmanned aerial vehicles” but that the use of the western missiles would be a “completely different story”.
The Russian president claimed that in order for Ukraine to carry out such strikes in Russia, western satellite intelligence would be required, as would launch input from NATO servicemembers.
“This is their direct participation, and this, of course, significantly changes the very essence, the very nature of the conflict. This will mean that NATO countries, the United States, European countries, are at war with Russia,” Putin said, adding, “If this becomes the case…we will make appropriate decisions”.
Putin said that the permission for long-range strikes against Russia "will mean that NATO countries are directly at war with Russia."
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) September 12, 2024
And he called it "war." pic.twitter.com/0BZ6JOZ9QP
This comes as the US and its NATO allies signal increasing openness to allowing Ukraine to use their long-range weapons systems to attack military targets on Russian soil, something western partners have held out on so far, but which Kyiv insists is required for success in the war.
During a recent trip to Kyiv with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken offered Ukraine hope that the desired permission would come in the future, saying that from day one of the war, “we have adjusted and adapted as needs have changed, as the battlefield has changed, and I have no doubt that we’ll continue to do that as this evolves”.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer arrived in Washington today to discuss with US President Joe Biden the use of the western weapons against military targets in Russia.
The US has previously expanded permissions, including allowing Ukraine to strike specific targets across the border from the northern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, but has stopped short of allowing wider use of the long-range weapons. The Financial Times reports that the US State department is open to Ukraine’s request, while the Pentagon and intelligence agencies remain sceptical.
Both the US and the UK have insisted that they do not seek conflict with Russia, but have added that Ukraine has the “right to self-defence”.
The US initially provided Ukraine with its Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles, which have a maximum range of roughly 290 kilometres, in October 2023, Ukraine mainly using these to hit Russian targets on the Crimean peninsula.
The question of whether or not to allow Ukraine to strike further into Russia using western-made weaponry is a heavy one for western leaders, with the risk of escalation ever present.
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergei Ryabkov, announced earlier this month that Russia intends to revise its nuclear doctrine, which is the document that lays out the circumstances for which Moscow may consider using nuclear weapons.
The decision to revise the doctrine was “connected with the escalation course of [Russia’s] Western adversaries,” he suggested.