An incensed Vladimir Putin has accused the West, specifically the UK of directly interfering in his war against Ukraine and vowed revenge.
The Russian president was speaking to international journalists at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum when he claimed British armed forces are targeting missiles hitting Russian targets.
DID PUTIN THREATEN UK, US, FRANCE AND GERMANY?
He then threatened to supply his advanced weapons to Britain’s enemies, as well as to ark the enemies of other Western countries providing long-range weapons to Ukraine including France, Germany and the US.
Putin then accused the US and France of using its armed forces to target Russian positions.
He again threatened to use nuclear weapons if Russia’s ‘sovereignty and territorial integrity’ are threatened, warning: ‘This should not be taken lightly, superficially.’
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PUTIN’S WORDS IN FULL
Putin said: ‘With regard to long-range precision weapons, such as the British Storm Shadow or the American ATACMS or French missiles, how is it used?
’Ukrainian servicemen cannot do everything on their own and strike with this missile.
’They are simply technologically unable to do it.
He continued, ’To do this, you need to have satellite reconnaissance, then, on the basis of this satellite reconnaissance, to form a flight task, and then enter it into the missile system.
’The serviceman who is next to it, he does it just automatically – he pushes buttons. He may not even know what will happen next.’
WHY PUTIN IS ANGRY
Putin made clear he sees the actions of the West as a direct involvement in the war.
‘I repeat, the flight task is formed and…entered only by those who supply these weapons,’ he claimed.
’If it’s ATACMS, then the Pentagon does it. If it is Storm Shadow, it means that the British are doing it. And in the case of Storm Shadow, it’s even simpler.
’The simplicity lies in the fact that the flight task is entered automatically, without the involvement of military personnel on the ground, automatically. The British do it, so that’s it.’
Talking about Germany, which also recently allowed Ukraine to hit Russian targets with German-made weapons – saying the move ‘definitively destroys Russian-German relations’.
Putin said there could be an ‘asymmetrical response’ for Western long-range missiles deployed by Ukraine to hit Russian territory.
Until now, these weapons have been used only to strike Russian-invaded areas of Ukraine, but Kyiv now has permission for strikes near the Kharkiv region after US president Joe Biden loosened restrictions.
Putin made clear he was also ready to supply weapons in the way NATO countries had, but in his case to enemies of Britain and other Western counties.
