Putin warns Russia could provide others with long-range weapons to strike Western targets

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — President Vladimir Putin warned Germany Wednesday that Ukraine's use of its weapons to strike inside Russia would mark a “dangerous step,” and he said Moscow could, in turn, provide long-range weapons to others. to strike Western targets.

Such action by the West would further undermine international security and could lead to “very serious problems”, he said, addressing senior officials at international news agencies including the Associated Press.

“This would mark their direct involvement in the war against the Russian Federation, and we reserve the right to act in the same way,” Putin added.

Since the use of such Western weapons involves those countries' military personnel controlling the missiles and selecting targets, Putin said Moscow could take “asymmetric” measures elsewhere in the world.

“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 do we not have the right to supply weapons of the same type to certain regions of the world where they can be used to launch strikes on sensitive installations of countries that do so to Russia?

“We will think about it,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the annual International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg.

Germany recently joined the United States in allowing Ukraine to strike certain targets on Russian soil with the long-range weapons it supplies to kyiv. Deliveries of German tanks to Ukraine came as a shock to many Russians, he said.

“Now if they use missiles to hit facilities on Russian territory, it will completely ruin Russian-German relations,” he said.

On Wednesday, a Western official and a U.S. senator said Ukraine used U.S. weapons to strike in Russia under the newly approved leadership of President Joe Biden. It authorizes the use of American weapons for the sole purpose of defending Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city. The official was not authorized to comment publicly on the sensitive issue and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Answering questions from international journalists for the first time since his inauguration last month for a fifth term, Putin also said nothing would change in terms of Russian-US relations whether Biden or Donald Trump wins November's US presidential election .

“We will work with any president elected by the American people,” Putin said.

“I say this in all sincerity, I wouldn't say that we think that after the elections anything will change on the Russian side in American politics,” he added. ” We do not think so. We don't think anything that bad will happen.

Putin also said Trump's felony conviction in his secret trial last week was the result of “using the justice system as part of the internal political struggle.”

The Russian leader faced questions on a variety of topics, although the more than two years of fighting in Ukraine dominated the session.

Putin claimed the West had opportunities to end the fighting in Ukraine but failed to act on them, citing a letter he reportedly wrote to Biden that said hostilities could end in two or three months if Washington stopped supplying weapons to kyiv.

Asked about Russian military losses, Putin said no country would reveal such information during hostilities, but claimed without providing details that Ukraine's losses were five times greater than Russia's.

He also said that Ukraine had more than 1,300 Russian troops in captivity, while more than 6,400 Ukrainian troops were detained in Russia.

The claims could not be independently verified.

On other issues, Putin said the United States was “taking strong steps” to secure the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, an American imprisoned more than a year ago while conducting a report and accused of espionage. Gershkovich, his employer and the United States have denied the allegations, and Washington has said he was wrongly detained.

Putin said such releases “are not decided through the media” but through a “discreet, calm and professional approach.”

“And they should certainly only be decided on the basis of reciprocity,” he added, referring to a possible exchange of prisoners.

Putin used the St. Petersburg forum as a showcase to tout Russia's development and seek investors. While meetings with journalists were part of previous sessions, he did not answer questions from Western journalists at the St. Petersburg event since sending troops to Ukraine.

Last year, journalists from countries Russia considers hostile – including the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union – were not invited, and Western officials and investors also avoided the session after broad sanctions were imposed on Moscow over Ukraine.

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Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed.