Russian president Vladimir Putin threatened Germany and the United States on Wednesday, saying that he could provide long-range weaponry to NATO adversaries to strike targets in the West in response to the move by the two countries to authorize Ukraine to use arms it provided on sites within Russian territory.
“That would make their direct involvement in the war against the Russian Federation, and we reserve the right to act the same way,” Putin told a group of reporters at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. “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?”
Mentioning Germany specifically after Berlin decided to join the U.S. in giving the green light to Ukraine to use its munitions to hit targets within Russia, Putin said that if Ukraine uses German arms “to strike facilities on the Russian territory, it will completely ruin Russian-German relations.”
The Biden administration announced late in May that it had given Ukraine the go-ahead to use American weaponry to strike inside Russia in certain limited cases. A U.S. official told the Associated Press that the specific instances in which Ukraine would be authorized to do so would be for “counter-fire purposes in the Kharkiv region so Ukraine can hit back against Russian forces that are attacking them or preparing to attack them.”
The directive did not change U.S. policy prohibiting Ukraine from using American ATACMS — tactical ballistic missiles — and other U.S.-delivered munitions for offensive strikes against targets within Russia.
While an unnamed U.S. senator and an administration official told the AP that Ukraine has used American weaponry to hit the approved sites, White House national-security spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday that he could not confirm those details.
“We’re just not in a position on a day-to-day basis of knowing exactly what the Ukrainians are firing at what,” Kirby told reporters at a press conference. “It’s certainly at a tactical level.”
Speaking about Berlin’s decision to join the U.S. in allowing Ukraine to use weapons it has provided to target Russian military assets on Monday, German chancellor Olaf Scholz said he does not believe the move will lead to an escalation of the war.
“As the U.S. president said, we are talking only about the possibility of protecting a large city, for example, Kharkiv,” Scholz said on a German radio program. He said the decision was made after consultation with “friends and allies.”
A spokesman for Scholz’s administration said recent Russian attacks in the Kharkiv region spurred the change in policy, describing them as “prepared, coordinated, and carried out” from positions next to the border.
“Ukraine has the right, in accordance with international law, to defend itself against these attacks,” the spokesman said.