Putin responds to Stoltenberg's calls for permission to strike at Russian territory by threatening to strike at ‘small countries’
He said that in long-range systems, the target selection will be made ‘without the participation of Ukrainian military personnel’
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has commented on NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg's words about the cancellation of the ban on Ukraine's use of Western weapons to strike targets in Russia.
‘If he [Stoltenberg] talks about the possibility of striking Russian territory with long-range precision weapons, he, as a person who heads a military-political organisation, although he is a civilian like me, should know that long-range precision weapons cannot be used without space-based reconnaissance,’ Putin said following a visit to Uzbekistan, the BBC reports.
According to him, in the case of strike systems such as Storm Shadow, the target selection and flight mission will be made ‘without any presence of Ukrainian military personnel’.
‘Who does this? It is done by those who produce and those who allegedly supply these strike systems to Ukraine. In general, it can and does happen without the participation of Ukrainian servicemen,’ Putin said.
‘So here it is. These representatives of NATO countries, especially in Europe, especially in small countries, should be aware of what they are playing with. They should remember that these are usually states with small territories and very dense populations. And this is a factor they should keep in mind before talking about striking deep into Russian territory,’ Putin said.
Before today's meeting of EU defence ministers in Brussels, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Ukraine should be able to use Western-supplied weapons to strike ‘legitimate targets’ in Russia, otherwise the hands of the Ukrainian armed forces are tied and they cannot defend themselves effectively.
According to the NATO chief, it is time to reconsider these restrictions. Read more about the position of the head of the military alliance in the article ‘Just the right interview. NATO Secretary General calls for allowing Ukraine to strike Russia with Western weapons. Main points’.
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