Putin threatens to supply weapons to the West because of attacks on Ukraine within Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a new series of threats, hinting that he could supply weapons to countries to attack Western targets and once again rattling his nuclear sabre.

Putin’s warning – a response to the decision by the United States and its European allies to allow Ukraine to attack Russian territory with its weapons – was the Kremlin’s latest threat to step up its support for Kyiv. But the Russian president also stressed that Washington and its partners were wrong to assume he would never use nuclear weapons.

In a briefing with heads of international news agencies at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Wednesday, Putin was asked about last week’s moves to ease restrictions on Kyiv following Moscow’s new attack on the border region of Kharkiv.

“If someone thinks it is possible to deliver such weapons to a combat zone to attack our territory and create problems for us, then why do we not have the right to deliver our weapons of the same class to those regions of the world from which the attacks are carried out on sensitive objects of those countries that do this in relation to Russia,” Putin said. “That is, the answer could be symmetrical. We will think about it.”

“If we ultimately see that these countries are drawn into a war against us and this is their direct participation in the war against the Russian Federation, then we reserve the right to act in a similar way,” Putin said. “But in general, this is the path to very serious problems.”

It was not immediately clear to which “regions of the world” he would deliver such missiles.

On Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to name the regions Putin had in mind. The Russian president said what he wanted to say, sending a clear message that supplying weapons for attacks inside Russia “cannot remain without consequences,” Peskov told reporters at a daily briefing.

Putin warned European NATO countries last week that allowing Ukraine to deploy weapons inside Russia was playing with fire and could trigger a global conflict.

Fearing retaliation from Moscow, Ukraine’s allies have so far been hesitant to allow the use of their weapons in Russia. But the Kremlin’s new cross-border offensive has increased the pressure for a change of course. Kiev feels disadvantaged and increasingly frustrated.

Earlier this week, Ukraine signaled that it had carried out the first attack on Russia using Western weapons. The target was apparently an air defense system in the Belgorod border region.

When asked what could trigger a nuclear war and how close the world is to that risk, Putin said Russia is often accused of wielding a “nuclear baton,” but he was not the one who raised the question.

However, he added that if Russia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity were threatened, it could use “all the means at our disposal” under the country’s nuclear doctrine, a framework that sets the conditions for the use of nuclear weapons.

“For some reason, the West believes that Russia will never use this weapon,” he said.

“This is not something to be taken lightly, not superficially,” he added.

Putin has threatened to use Russia’s massive nuclear arsenal since it became clear that Kyiv’s Western allies would not abandon the war-torn country and would supply it with battlefield weapons, ultimately delaying the swift operation Putin had expected.

Although Ukraine had to wait for new deliveries of American weapons, it nevertheless managed to slow down the Russian advance and bring the ground offensive in the northeast to a halt.

Kyiv is now pushing its allies to further ease restrictions on the use of their weapons so it can push deeper into enemy territory. President Joe Biden will meet his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in France this week as the West marks the 80th anniversary of D-Day.