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

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — President Vladimir Poutine warned Wednesday that Russia could provide long-range weapons to others to strike Western targets in response to NATO allies allowing Ukraine to use their weapons to attack Russian territory.

Putin also reiterated that Moscow was ready to resort to nuclear weapons if it saw it as a threat to its sovereignty.

The West's recent actions will further undermine international security and could lead to “very serious problems”, he said, responding to questions from international journalists – something that has become extremely rare since Moscow sent troops in Ukraine.

“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.

The United States and Germany recently authorized Ukraine to strike certain targets on Russian soil with the long-range weapons it supplies to kyiv.

Wednesday, a Western official and an American senator said Ukraine used US weapons to strike Russia according to newly approved guidelines of President Joe Biden who authorizes the use of American weapons for the limited purpose of self-defense Kharkov, the second largest city in Ukraine. The official was not authorized to comment publicly on the sensitive issue and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Putin claimed that the use of certain Western-supplied weapons involves military personnel from those countries controlling the missiles and selecting targets. Moscow could take “asymmetric” measures elsewhere in the world. The US military has said it does not control the missiles it supplies to Ukraine or the targets.

“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? he said.

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

Asked whether Russia could resort to nuclear weapons, Putin replied that the conditions for using this arsenal are clearly set out in Moscow's security doctrine.

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

“Look at what’s written there,” he said of Russia’s nuclear doctrine. “If someone’s actions threaten our sovereignty and territorial integrity, we consider it possible to use all means at our disposal.”

Even Russia's nuclear weapons on the battlefield are far more powerful than those used by the United States against Japan during World War II, Putin said.

Speaking for more than three hours to senior officials from international news agencies, including the Associated Press, Putin also said that nothing would change in terms of Russian-US relations regardless of whether Biden or Donald Trump wins the presidential election November American.

“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 during his secret trial last week was the result of “the use of the judicial 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.

These claims could not be independently verified, and some Western estimates put Russia's losses at much higher than Ukraine's.

Asked by AP about the case of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Putin said the United States was “taking strong steps” to secure his release. Gershkovich was jailed more than a year ago while reporting and charged with espionage. The journalist, his employer and the United States denied the allegations, and Washington 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 Forum Saint Petersburg as a showcase to tout Russia's development and seek investors. The meeting with journalists took place at Gazprom's new world headquarters, an 81-story needle-shaped skyscraper overlooking the Gulf of Finland.

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.